


Sunshine Cat

by The_Lord_of_Chaos



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrichat, Adrien discovers shipping, Adrien sees fan art he can't unsee, Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Child Neglect, Coming Out, Crack Treated Seriously, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Food Issues, Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting, I've got all the love square right here, Identity Reveal, Innuendo, Is Anyone Straight?, Ladiren - Freeform, LadyNoir - Freeform, M/M, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Protective Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), Sad Adrien is Sad, You want love square
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 43,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23715814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lord_of_Chaos/pseuds/The_Lord_of_Chaos
Summary: There's always been a bit of competition between Ladybug and Chat Noir.  Marinette just never thought they'd be competing for the heart of one Adrien Agreste.Adrien discovers that people online have been shipping him with... himself.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 44
Kudos: 412





	1. Chat Noir is the East and Adrien is the Sun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [buggachat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/buggachat/gifts).



> Buggachat started this whole crazy nonsense. Please direct all blame towards her. I couldn't help myself.

Were his eyes open too wide?He didn’t usually need a mirror to know what his expression looked like, but at just that moment, he couldn’t tell if he was overcompensating for how much his eyelids wanted to droop.Adrien didn’t just have to keep his eyes open in class, he had to look alert and attentive and perfect.Father demanded nothing less from him for the Agreste brand, and Adrien had just had to convince his father last week that school wasn’t taking up too much of his time.So he did his best to plaster on one of the faces he usually left for a photoshoot and kept his back straight and made sure to acknowledge his classmates as they passed him in the few minutes before the bell would start classes for the day.

If it had just been the premier he’d gone to the night before to represent his father, it would have been fine.It was a bit late, and a bit draining, but he’d gotten home with enough time to finish his homework and get a few hours of sleep, at least.It was only as he was finally slipping into bed that he got the alert on his phone about the Akuma attack. 

Adrien Agreste, of course, couldn’t use that as an excuse.He had been asleep at home.Where else could he have been?Chat Noir, on the other hand, had spent most of the rest of the night dashing across rooftops after an Akuma whose plan seemed to be to tire them out first with a big chase across Paris. 

“Did you hear about Genevieve Lamont?” he heard Alya ask Marinette.

“Who?” Marinette asked.

“From the Lamont Three?That band I showed you last week?With the trumpet?”

“Oh,” Marinette said.“Sure.Why, is there a new album?”

“Next month,” Alya said.“But no, there’ve been a few threads popping up lately.People think she could be Ladybug.”

That got Adrien’s attention.

Marinette let out a huge yawn.She didn’t seem interested in the news.“Why would people think that?” Marinette asked.

“Well, she sort of looks like she could be, and she’s sort of got that same Ladybug kick ass attitude on stage.Of course, then there’s people trying to figure out if they’ve ever been seen at the same time.”

“That’s a pretty low bar,” Marinette said.“Are you putting it on the Ladyblog?”

Alya hesitated.Alya had once convinced him that Chloe could be Ladybug, so Adrien was in favor of caution this time.“It probably isn’t the best theory.I’ll probably report on the rumors; it is taking off right now, I can’t not address it.”

“Sure,” Marinette agreed.

Knowing Alya, she’d have a post written by the end of classes that day.Adrien could check it out when he got home, after fencing practice.Adrien resisted the urge to let out a big yawn of his own.For the rest of the morning he thought he did a good job of not looking as if he’d spent the night pole-vaulting across the city.He must not have been doing a good enough job though because Marinette surprised him towards the end of lunch by bringing him a coffee from her parents bakery.

“You looked like you could coffee some,” Marinette said.“I mean, use some.Not that you look bad.You look great actually.Not that I was looking, so here’s coffee, bye.”

She left before he could so much as say thank you and the coffee was left on his desk and Adrien was left feeling a lot like he normally did when he interacted with Marinette.Slightly touched at her consideration, and a bit put out that he still made her so uncomfortable.They’d gotten off on the wrong foot his first day of class and ever since then he couldn’t seem to talk to her without her becoming red in the face or getting tongue tied.Still though, Marinette was the sort of person who would get you coffee even if you she didn’t particularly like you just because she thought you needed it.

Adrien popped the top off of the coffee and looked inside.Lots of cream and sugar, two things that were definitely not on his meal plan.Caffeine was definitely on the banned list.In general, coffee wasn’t something he normally had access to at home, and he was usually under too much scrutiny when he was out representing the brand.Adrien took a sip and hoped the coffee would be enough.

This, it turned out, was the wrong thing to worry about.He wasn’t sure how much coffee had been in his cup, but about fifteen minutes later Adrien came to the conclusion that it had been too much.His leg wouldn’t stop bouncing, and a couple of times he answered questions before he’d been called on.Adrien was absolutely certain that everyone could tell.His classmates were cool though, and he was pretty sure that photos of him with caffeine jitters weren’t going to show in a tabloid where father would see.

Another thing he didn’t think to worry about initially was how long it would last.He crashed during fencing in a most literal fashion.

“Are you okay?” Manuel asked, offering him a hand.

“Just slipped,” Adrien said.He looked up at the Gorilla.He was less likely to report missteps to father, but Adrien couldn’t look like something was wrong.He got back to the on-guard line and after he and Manuel had finished, he kept his mask on while he waited for his next bout.By the time he got home, the only thing keeping him awake was Plagg and his burning desire to find out more about the Ladybug rumor. 

“Uggh,” Plagg said.“You haven’t fed me in forever, I’m starving.”

“I fed you before we got in the car,” Adrien said.“You ate en entire wheel of camembert.”

“That was ages ago,” Plagg complained.“I don’t know if I could possibly transform you right now if there was an Akuma attack.”

“Ha ha. You know how hard it is to keep this up?” Adrien asked.

It was one of his great successes, keeping so much food under everyone’s nose, and it all went to his kwami.

“Come on, I smell something good.”

Adrien was surprised Plagg could smell it.It had come wrapped up tight.He had actually gotten it to surprise Plagg.It wasn’t easy to get and Plagg spoke of it with reverence.Adrien would have to give it a taste to see what all the fuss was about.

“You must be imagining it,” Adrien said.He sat down in front of his computer and pulled up the Ladyblog.Plagg settled down in his hair, still talking about the tantalizing smell that was going through the room, probably just a sweaty sock that had rolled under his bed. 

Adrien scrolled through the new post that had popped up that afternoon.Alya had actually managed to put together a pretty comprehensive article about the theory, but Adrien could already tell though that they were stuck in the wrong tree.Looking at the band’s performance schedule, he had been patrolling with Ladybug during their last concert.Alya came to basically the same conclusion.

“Is anyone claiming they know who Chat Noir is?” Plagg asked. 

“What would you do if someone suspected me?” Adrien asked.

“Not saying.”

“Hmm.” Adrien opened up a new window and typed in Adrien Agreste Chat Noir.

“Oh wow,” Adrien said.

“What is it?” Plagg asked.

“There’s a lot of hits.”He clicked on the first one.It took him a moment to realize what he was looking at.“Oh no!”

“What, what, who’s onto you?”

“It’s not that,” Adrien said. 

Plagg floated down and got a closer look at the screen before he started guffawing loudly.

“It’s not funny,” Adrien said.

“Kid, this is hilarious,” Plagg said.

“Why would someone write that?” Adrien asked.

“Everyone loves a good love story,” Plagg said.

“Yeah,” Adrien said.“Stories about fictional people.I’m a real person.Chat Noir is a real person.Don’t people know Chat Noir loves Ladybug?”

“Kid, I don’t know what to tell you,” Plagg said.He looked closer at the screen.“‘Oh kitty cat,’” he started a dramatic reading.“‘Will I ever see you without your mask, will I ever know who kisses me every night?’ Chat Noir just held Adrien close, a silent promise of the future they would have together.”

Adrien quickly clicked back out of the page as Plagg cackled.There were so many entries in the search result.He started clicking through.

“What’s em preg?” Plagg asked.

Adrien’s eyes caught the word in the tags at the top of the page, right next to ‘pregnant photoshoot.’Adrien thought he knew exactly what mpreg was and exactly who was doing a pregnant photoshoot.

“Nope,” Adrien said, clicking back.He clicked on someone’s Deviant Art.“Why do I have to be eighteen or older to look at a drawing someone did of me? I’m fourteen.”

“Are you going to look at it?” Plagg asked.

Adrien looked at the blurred out square on the screen and the little dialogue box at the top.He shouldn’t.He really didn’t want to know.He’d blame it on how dead tired he felt.He clicked through.

Adrien.exe stopped working.

Plagg was howling with laughter.

Nope.Adrien jumped up and leapt away from his computer.His heart was pounding in his chest.His cheeks were burning.He felt… weird. He was… That was… He absolutely did not like that.He couldn’t possibly like that.That was himself with… himself, who was also a guy.

“I am not thinking about this,” Adrien said.“Who wants some Pont L’eveque?”

“What did you say?” Plague asked, all laughter ceasing.

Adrien went over to his backpack and pulled out the special package. 

“This was expensive,” Adrien said.“I get to try some.”

“Is that really?” Plagg asked.

Adrien held it up so the label showed.

“You are the best chosen I’ve ever had.”

“I thought I was starving you,” Adrien said.

“Who said that?” Plagg asked.He swooped in and swiped the package from Adrien’s hands.Adrien was pretty sure he used a bit of Cataclysm to get the wrapping off so quickly.

It took a moment.

“Oh my god,” Adrien said.

The smell.

“This is divine,” Plagg said.

“Oh my god,” Adrien said.

Plagg usually devoured whatever he ate, but here he paused to savor what was the worst thing Adrien had ever smelled.

“It’s so strong,” Adrien said.

It was in his room.

Adrien rushed to the window and threw it open.He could still smell it.He couldn’t possibly open his doors.If Nathalie smelled that, or worse, father, there’d be trouble.Unable to escape, Adrien sat on the ledge and leaned against the wall.

“Top ten anime betrayals,” Adrien said. 

Plagg was enjoying his stink bomb too much to say anything.

“You begged me to get that for you and then you did that to my room.This is worse than what you did to the dinosaurs.”

“Um, excuse me, have you been eaten by a dinosaur lately? You’re welcome,” Plagg said.“Besides, Tiki was bored, I needed to give her something to do.”

“That’s Ladybug’s Kwami?” Adrien asked.

“Sometimes creation needs a bit of destruction,” Plagg said.

“Remind me to never tell you I’m bored,” Adrien said.He covered his face with his hands.It had been a very long day.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to try some?” Plagg asked.

“Never talk to me or my lover, Chat Noir, ever again,” Adrien called back.

Plagg cackled.

* * *

Marinette had been exhausted all day.After staying up half the night to work on a commission, she’d just managed to get into bed before the Akuma alert had gotten her back up.Marinette was used to long nights though and a couple shots of espresso had gotten her mostly in shape for the day.Noticing that Adrien also looked run down had been her chance.Her coffee run had turned into an opportunity to talk to him.An opportunity she had wasted when she’d completely failed to say anything comprehensible, and then poor Adrien might have had too much coffee.Marinette had lost all sense of what was sensible when it came to caffeine.Adrien probably hated her now.

By the time she got home she found herself struggling to get work done.

“Maybe you should take a nap,” Tiki suggested.Tiki was always looking out for her.

Marinette tried.She really tried, but as exhausted as she was, she was also restless.Eventually she gave up on work and she gave up on napping and decided she had to do something. 

“How about a quick patrol?” Marinette asked Tiki.

“If you think that would help,” Tiki said. 

Marinette pulled out a cookie for Tiki to eat and checked to make sure she still had a spare in her purse just in case.

“Tiki, spots on,” Marinette called out and let the magic wash over her.It didn’t wash away her fatigue, but it did give her strength. 

Swinging around the city for a while helped with her restlessness, but it didn’t help with her anxiety over how horribly things had gone with Adrien earlier.He really had looked run down that day, and she probably hadn’t helped at all.Was she ever going to be able to talk to him properly?She found herself swinging closer to the Agreste Manor.It wasn’t deliberate or anything.When she saw Adrien sitting on his window ledge she got a bit worried, when she realized he was asleep, she got a bit alarmed.

Swinging down she lit on the ledge and took hold of Adrien’s arm.She didn’t want him to startle and fall off.He did startle awake, but she held him securely.His arm was probably cool from sitting out in the evening air, but it felt hot in her hand.

“Ladybug!” he exclaimed.

“Probably not the best place to fall asleep,” Marinette said.

“Oh my gosh,” Adrien said,

“Are you alright?” Marinette asked.

“Yes,” Adrien said.“I can’t believe I did that.”

“Let’s get you inside,” Marinette said.She took his hand and stepped into his room, drawing him along with her.It was always different when she was Ladybug.Why couldn’t she just always be Ladybug?She was Ladybug at the moment though.She shouldn’t waste it.

“So what’s got a boy like you sleeping on a ledge?”

“Just needed some fresh air,” Adrien said, he was still looking at her with wide eyes, like he wasn’t sure if he wasn’t still dreaming.“Are you thirsty?I have water in my fridge.”

“Sure,” she said.She wasn’t, but she wasn’t going to turn anything down from Adrien.

She followed him to his desk, which had a mini fridge built in on one side.It was stocked with San Pellegrino and… cheese?He handed her a bottle and then leaned against his desk and opened a bottle for himself.He must have nudged something because the screensaver on his computer went away and there was- there was- there was something she was never going to be able to unsee.There was Adrien, and Chat Noir and they were… 

Marinette.exe had stopped working.

Her eyes shot back up to Adrien who had gotten the cap off and taken a drink. 

“Thank you for coming to my rescue there,” Adrien said, oblivious to the image behind him.“Though by now, I’m sure I owe you many times over.”

Marinette just looked at him. 

“So, um, I’m sure you’re busy, protecting Paris and all, but if you wanted to take a break, I have some games we could play.”

“Paris!” Marinette said.“Yes, well, can’t stay.I’ve got to go…” she gestured out the window. “The city…”

“Oh,” Adrien said.“Yeah.Well, have a good night, Ladybug.Thank you, again.”

“You’re welcome,” Marinette said.“So, yeah, I’ll just…” She leapt out the window.

Releasing the transformation when she got home, Marinette collapsed onto her bed.

“Tiki this is the worst day of my life,” Marinette wailed.

“What’s wrong Marinette?” Tiki asked.

“Adrien’s in love with Chat Noir!” Marinette exclaimed.

* * *

Adrien face planted on his bed.

“Games? What is wrong with me?” Adrien asked.

Plagg was laughing at him.

He managed to actually sleep for a while after that and life seemed to settle in the next few days.Father went out of town on business and there wasn’t anything extra for Adrien to do that wasn’t regularly on his schedule.Even Hawkmoth seemed to be taking a break, and Adrien had time to hang out with Nino on Saturday.All in all, if he wasn’t miserable for striking out with Ladybug as Adrien as well as Chat Noir, it would have been a great few days, except that Ladybug had been missing from patrols. 

Saturday night saw him vaulting over Paris.A robbery here, a little old lady with her groceries there, and about a dozen kids to take photos with.A good night normally, but without his Lady… Adrien brought his route a little closer to home and found himself perched on top of the school when he saw Marinette watering the plants on her balcony.He smiled.Marinette could usually cheer him up, as long as he was Chat Noir.If he was lucky she would feed him pastries.Getting closer though, he noticed that she looked a little down.Adrien landed gracefully on the railing next to her.

“What’s got you looking down tonight, purrrincess?”

A few quick expressions crossed Marinette’s face.The first one was surprise, and that was followed by something else Adrien couldn’t identify before it was replaced by weariness.

“Nothing I can tell you about, Chat,” Marinette said.

“Sounds serious,” Adrien said. 

“It is,” Marinette said solemnly before looking down.“Or, well no, I guess it isn’t.Not like anything you deal with.”

“Just because you’re not protecting Paris doesn’t mean it can’t be serious,” Adrien said.

“What do you think about Adrien Agreste?” Marinette asked.

Adrien wasn’t sure if this was Marinette trying to change the subject, or if Adrien was somehow the trouble she was having, but maybe this was his chance to smooth things over between them.

“He’s a pretty neat guy,” Adrien said.“We’ve interacted during a couple of Akuma attacks.Kept a level head, tried to help.”He didn’t generally like tooting Adrien’s horn.He was fine bragging as Chat Noir, but that was because Chat Noir could actually be him.Adrien was just the guy he pretended to be to keep father happy.He did wish that Adrien and Marinette could get along though.“I could totally see being friends with him.You know?I think he’s lonely.Maybe he wants to play video games or something.”

“You like him?” Marinette asked, sounding upset.Adrien frowned.

“Well sure,” Adrien said.“He’s a cool cat.Why, do you have something against him?Maybe you should talk it out with him.”

“What? No, I don’t have anything against him,” Marinette protested.

“You sure?” Adrien asked, a bit confused. 

“Very,” Marinette said.

Maybe Marinette didn’t dislike him.Maybe she was just intimidated because his father was Gabriel Agreste and she wanted to break into the fashion industry.

“Well anyway,” Adrien said.“I think he’d surprise you.I wouldn’t say no to spending some time with the guy.”

“Like, as friends or as a date?” Marinette asked.

Adrien was suddenly reminded very strongly of the picture he’d seen online.The mask might cover half his face, but he was sure his cheeks were burning bright red.Did Marinette know about what was online?

“A date?” Adrien said.“No, of course not?I totally don’t think he’s hot or anything.”

Marinette gasped. “You do.”

Maybe he should stop before he got anymore behind in this conversation.

“Right, well, I should go,” Adrien said.

“But Chat!”

“See you later, byeee,” Adrien said and vaulted away.

Why did everyone think that Adrien and Chat Noir should be boyfriends?

* * *

“What’s wrong Marinette?” Tiki asked.

“Chat’s in love with Adrien!” Marinette exclaimed.

* * *

“What are you reading so late anyway?” Plagg asked.

“Just research!” Adrien exclaimed, clicking away from the fan fic.

* * *

A couple of nights later Ladybug showed up for patrol.

“I was beginning to worryMy Lady,” Adrien said.

Ladybug just walked right on up to him, looked him straight in the eyes and said, “may the best one win.”

Adrien grinned.“Are we racing to the Eiffel Tower?”

She seemed to think about it for a moment.

“L’arche de Triomphe,” Ladybug said.The route suited her yo-yo more.

“What do I get if I win?” Adrien asked, giving his flirtiest smile.

Ladybug looked thoughtful for a moment.“I suppose you’ll get a kiss,” she said.

“You’re on!” Adrien said, his heart aflutter.Maybe a kiss from Ladybug would be the first of many; and maybe a kiss from Ladybug would stop the really weird dreams he’d been having.


	2. Let Down Your Hair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so I know I originally marked this as complete, but Chat Noir wanted to come out and play some more. Can't really say where this is going but we've got a bit of a tonal shift.

The weird thing was that Adrien was starting to get weirdly defensive over some of the things that people wrote.Or, that wasn’t weird, people wrote horribly graphic things about him, which made him feel weird things just reading the summaries, and it had taken him a bit to realize he could filter those out, but the weird parts were the assumptions people made about his life.People wrote about how they though he was handling the disappearance of his mother.Some people wrote him like he was some sort of cold hearted snob who needed Chat Noir to open his heart.The thing that made him really uncomfortable, though, were the stories where he was practically written like he was Rapunzel, and Chat Noir needed to come and rescue him from his tower, from his father.

Those were the stories that kept drawing him back, though; which didn’t make sense.

“Okay,” Plagg said.“What’d he do now?”

Adrien quickly clicked to a different page.

“What?” Adrien asked.

“You’re crying,” Plagg said.

“I’m not crying,” Adrien said, wiping at his eyes real quick.He’d just gotten a bit sniffly.“Why’d you assume it’s because of my father?”

“Why’d you assume I was referring to him?” Plagg asked.

Chatrian45 had practically written his dad like some sort of villain.Adrien wasn’t sure why he hadn’t already clicked back out of this one.

“I was just reading a sad story,” Adrien said.

“Oh, did you break up with Chat Noir?”

Adrien blushed.

“It was about dragons,” Adrien fibbed.

“Oh, yeah, do not bring dragons up around Tiki. She still hasn’t forgiven me for the dragons.”

Adrien just stared at him for a moment.“I don’t want to know.”

* * *

“That is not fair to him,” Kagami said.“You are asking him to be a mind reader.”

“I know,” Marinette said. 

“Why is he the only one you cannot stand up to?” Kagami asked.

Marinette halted in her stitching and looked up at her monitor.“I don’t need to stand up to Adrien.He’s always kind to me, or he’s just always kind to everyone, that’s part of why I love him.”

“You make yourself small before him, he cannot see who you are,” Kagami said.“How will he know how you feel if you won’t let him?You have nothing to hide from him.Stand tall, Marinette. You have nothing to lose by letting him see you.”

Marinette blushed, and told herself it was because she was thinking of Adrien.It would be weird to feel that way because of what Kagami had said right after she had professed her love for Adrien.

“Sometimes I feel like maybe you don’t show him how _you_ feel,” Marinette said, turning her eyes back to adding accents to the hood she was working on.

This was one of the few times Marinette had ever brought Kagami up short.

“That is true,” Kagami said, twisting a tiny little knife in Marinette’s stomach.“But I do not want him to know how I feel.”

“Because of me?” Marinette asked.

“It is expected of me,” Kagami said.“That is why our parents arrange for us to spend time together.If I am to be in love with someone, I do not wish it to be because they are one of the few people I am able to interact with.”

“That doesn’t mean your feelings don’t matter,” Marinette said.

“I have very little experience with my peers,” Kagami said.“Even less with friendship.I have done research on the topic.”

Marinette had found that out the hard way.

“If romance is an advanced form of friendship, I think I should explore friendship more, lest I make mistakes with my heart.”

“That’s a very mature way to look at things,” Marinette said.She couldn’t really imagine pragmatically ignoring her heart though, even if it was the right thing for her to do.

“That is also expected of me,” Kagami said.

Marinette wished she could go back in time and set little Marinette up on a play date with little Kagami and little Adrien somehow. 

“Well, maybe you need to do some unexpected things,” Marinette said.

“Like what?” Kagami asked.

“Come explore Montmartre with me on Sunday? You could say you’re learning more about French culture.”

Kagami smiled at her, genuinely, less in the forced manner she’d first shown Marinette on Friends Day.“It will be difficult, but I will succeed, and we will go together,” she said.

Marinette smiled back, looking forward to it already, more than she thought she would.

* * *

“Ooh, girl, trying a new outfit?” Alya asked.“I’d assumed that was a commission.”

Marinette blushed.“Just thought I’d try out black.”

“That’s a great combination, Marinette,” Adrien said.“Did you make it yourself?”

“Oh, my girl here makes all of her clothes,” Alya said.“You know, I bet you two would have a lot to talk about.”

Marinette forced down the impulse to shush Alya.“Yes,” she said.

“It’s a really great homage to Chat Noir,” Adrien said. 

“Yeah, it’s mostly Ladybug merch out there,” Nino supplied.

Marinette blushed even harder.Adrien really seemed to like the Chat Noir theme.Maybe he just liked the aesthetic.For Marinette, her kitty had just been on her mind a lot lately.She knew that she didn’t owe him romance, but a part of her felt bad that he may have moved on from her only to directly compete with her, perhaps, for the same boy.He didn’t even know she liked Adrien.If she did get Adrien to fall for her, wouldn’t she just be breaking his heart all over again?How would she feel if Adrien and Kagami got together.Not that she had fallen for Kagami or anything.Not really, she didn’t think.She was definitely in love with Adrien.Kagami was just special.

Anyway, the point was that Chat had been on her mind lately.She’d noticed a week ago one of the stations covering the akuma attack of the day had kept cutting away from him and she’d decided to make some kitty cat merch.It felt good to wear his colors. He always had her back, so she should have his.If only she could protect his heart without giving up on the boy of her dreams.

“You know she does commissions,” Alya said.

“Oh, I couldn’t take your money,” Marinette said.“I mean from a friend.Just a friend.”

Adrien seemed to brighten at this, but he still said, “As a friend, I want to support your business.”

Adrien was perfect, and Marinette took too long to recover from learning this fact once more because when she could think again, Alya was handling negotiations.

“If you want a real custom job, you should go home with Marie and go over specifics,” Alya was saying.

Adrien?In her room?Talking about design?It could be her best opportunity.She could also screw things up horribly.

“That would be no,” she said.

“That would be great,” Alya said.

Adrien was looking at her.She nodded her head and he smiled his perfect smile.

Ms. Bustier started class then, and Marinette was saved from any further embarrassment.

* * *

When lunch came around, Adrien held Nino back for a moment so they could talk before he had to go home. 

“Hey, Nino, if you didn’t know me… Or, I’m sort of- So, I’ve got this fan following,” Adrien said.He wasn’t sure that he actually wanted to bring this up at all, but he also couldn’t stop wondering about it. 

“I’ve noticed,” Nino said.“Are people bothering you?”

Did writing R-rated fan fiction about him count as ‘bothering?'

“Do you think my life looks messed up to an outside observer?” Adrien asked.

“Dude, yeah,” Nino said.“Of course.Your life is super messed up.”

“Wait, _you_ think my life’s messed up?” He’d sort of assumed Nino knew him well enough that outside appearances wouldn’t be an issue.

“Isn’t that what you’re asking?”

“Well, no, like, if you _didn’t_ know me,” Adrien said.“You think I’m messed up?”

“I think your dad treats you like crap,” Nino said. 

“He misses my mom,” Adrien said.“We both do, he’s just handling it differently.”

“You know that’s not an excuse,” Nino said.“And I’m pretty sure the isolation started before that, anyways.I’m pretty sure he’s been making sure you never have time to be yourself for a long time too.”

Nino had used words like ‘not fair’ before to refer to Adrien’s schedule.

“He isn’t isolating me,” Adrien said, though even he knew that was a lie.“He just has a lot of expectations for me, because he wants me to do well, it all just takes a lot of time.”

Nino sighed.“Why are you asking?”

“Why would someone who doesn’t even know me think I need to be rescued?” Adrien asked.

“Who thinks you need to be rescued?” Nino asked.

“Just people online,” Adrien said.

“I’m pretty sure you should be really careful getting involved with your fans online,” Nino said. 

“I’m not talking to them or anything,” Adrien said.His comments had been anonymous. There would be a line to kill him if he used any of his official screen names, starting with the company’s publicist, winding its way through Nathalie, and ending with his father.Well, no actually, his dad didn’t wait in line for anything.“I just don’t know why.”

“I don’t know dude.You’re a fourteen year old with a demanding job, and a father who’s very publicly a cold recluse while also being a demanding ass to the people around him.And I’m sorry, but yeah, your mom’s disappearance made the rounds, and I’m sure there’s a ton of weird rumors about it, which you should ignore.I know it’s not some stranger’s business, but it’s a conclusion someone could come up with, and since I’ve gotten to know you, dude, there’ve been times I wanted to rescue you.”

Adrien grimmaced.

“I’m sorry bro, but you deserve better.”

“I’ve got to go,” Adrien said.“I can’t be late.”The glow that had settled in his stomach after Marinette had called him her friend was gone.

“Yeah,” Nino said.“I know.”

* * *

Scheduling just a bit of time for Adrien to come over was a bit of a nightmare, but a last minute photoshoot cancelation and a bit of begging got them half an hour that Saturday.It was nice to have time to put away a few of the pictures she had of him from his previous ads.When she’d last seen him as Ladybug, he’d offered to play games, so just in case they had any extra time, she turned on her system and left Ultra Mecha Strike III on as if she’d just been playing.

A plate of pastries and some iced tea and Marinette was sure she was missing something, but Adrien was going to be there any minute, and she needed to coach her parents.After the disastrous incident with Weredad, she was careful about being too obvious about her crush on Adrien, but it wasn’t like it hadn’t come up with her parents before.

“Okay, so this is purely just for a commission,” Marinette said.“So we really don’t need to play twenty questions, and you definitely shouldn’t be playing match maker.”

Alya was bad enough; though she was about to have Adrien in her room, so maybe a bit of matchmaking was okay.She just wished she had more control of it. 

“Relax darling,” Mom said.“You don’t need to worry about us.”

“You would tell us if you were dating someone, though, right?” Dad asked.

“Oh, hush now,” Mom said.“Come on, there’s plenty to do in the kitchen right now.”

Marinette checked her watch. He would be there any minute.The door to the bakery chimed and Marinette’s head whipped around to see Adrien and his body guard walk in.Adrien’s eyes zeroed in on her and Marinette instantly forgot the greeting she had prepared.

“Hello, Marinette,” Adrien said.“I’m glad our schedules could align like this.”

“Hi,” Marinette said, sure that anything she might say would be inadequate.“Pastries, in my room, if you want.”

Adrien glanced up at his bodyguard who was pretending to be engrossed in the coffee menu. 

“We’ll just be upstairs,” Adrien said.That got a nod in response and then they were walking up the stairs to her bedroom.Adrien looked at her again, and she wanted to always be able to look into his eyes like this, but then she realized that he was waiting for something.

“Right this way!” Marinette said, too loudly, probably upsetting customers and turning the waitstaff’s heads.She turned around and headed through the back to the stairs that lead up to her home.

“It must be great living over a bakery, I always love it when our cook bakes fresh bread,” Adrien said.

Small talk.She had prepared small talk!

“Did you see that new comic book movie?With the Ants?” Alya had dragged her along for ‘super hero research.’

There was a pause, as Adrien processed the non-sequitur, and Marinette could have slapped herself on the forehead but that would have just been even weirder.

“Ha, um, I guess I don’t get out to see many movies,” Adrien said.“I’ll probably see it when it comes out on streaming.Besides, who needs movies when we have Ladybug?”

He said Ladybug instead of Chat Noir!

“Oh, yes, definitely,” Marinette said."Just up here.”She led him up through the trap door into her room.

She looked at Adrien as he walked in and as she blanked on just the right thing to say she wound up just saying, “Um, I’ll be right back, um, bathroom.”She hurried out and locked herself in her bathroom.

Why was she like this?Why couldn’t she just string two words together, talk to him just the same as she would Alya or Nino?

“Are you catastrophizing?” Tiki asked quietly.

“No,” Marinette said. “Or yes, but…” She took a good long look in the mirror.“You caught this boy looking at dirty Chat Noir drawings online.You have no business being intimidated by him.”

“That’s one way to look at it,” Tiki said.“You’ve got this Marinette, I believe in you.”

“Thanks Tiki.”

‘Stand tall,’ she told herself, mirroring what Kagami had told her earlier in the week.Though she probably shouldn’t be thinking about Kagami just then.

She pushed her shoulders back did a quick Ladybug pose and went back into her room.“Sorry, um, would you like some cookies while we talk?”

“Of course,” Adrien said, picking up one and taking a small bite.The look on his face said he loved it, but he didn’t go for another bite.

“So what sort of item were you looking for?” Marinette asked. 

Adrien looked bashful.“I’m not really sure, actually,” he said.“I’m supposed to stay on brand, you know?But maybe something to wear around the house?Sorry, I guess that won’t give you much exposure.”

“That’s fine, this is a commission.So what feel are you looking for? Light and breathable, cozy, or maybe some accessories or sleepwear?” Marinette asked, looking at the pad of paper she’d written some design questions on.

“Like ladybug pajamas?” Adrien asked.

“I thought you’d want a Chat Noir theme,” Marinette said.

Adrien had another bashful look and he said in an almost mumble, “That would be weird.”

Weirder than looking at Adrien/Chat Noir fan art online?

“Well, Ladybug’s my favorite,” Adrien said.

Marinette restrained herself from jumping for joy.That was definitely what she wanted to hear. 

“Although…” Adrien looked a bit embarrassed for his indecisiveness. 

She pulled out her sketchbook instead and started flipping through.“What about a dual theme like this?” She asked holding up a concept drawing for one of the pattern’s she’d been toying with.There was a repeating pattern of a series of tableaus of a black kitten playing with a rather out of scale ladybug.

Adrien’s face lit up, radiantly, and Marinette almost fumbled the sketch pad.

“He’s got a little bell!” Adrien said.

“Of course,” Marinette said.“So pajamas?”

“Yes, please,” Adrien said. 

“Summer or winter?” Marinette asked.

“Both,” Adrien said.

Two outfits!

“What about loungewear?” Adrien pressed on.“Like a fluffy sweater.Where it’s a little too big and it’s like you’re buried in it.”

He had a shy excitement about this part.Marinette had a vision of what he was describing and could just imagine him wearing it on a cold day, curled up on a couch with a book and a cup of hot cocoa. 

“Another combo?” Marinette asked.

Adrien looked hesitant.“Maybe something like what you were wearing?”

“A Chat Noir theme?” Marinette asked.

Another hesitant moment, and then a nod.Marinette didn’t let her disappointment show.

“The design I had earlier was really an out and about look.I think I have some ideas for a cozy sweater.Give me a moment.”

She already had a rough sketch of Adrien and she started outlining the sweater, with sleeves that hung below the finger tips, a hem that fell to his upper thighs, and a neck that looked like it could slide off of him.Then she started adding the details, the hood over his head with the cat ears, accenting for the shoulders and elbows, draw strings with little bells on the end. 

Adrien was excited when he saw the drawing and Marinette almost lost it with all his compliments.She wound up looking at her list to ground herself.

“Um, base colors and fabrics,” she said. 

There was more discussion there.Marinette wasn’t sure if Adrien had expensive taste or if he was just naming off fabrics his father used.She wound up having to call the little company she used when she needed patterns printed on fabric to see if they carried Mulberry Silk (they didn’t but they could get some), and she’d need a trip to Marché Saint-Pierre in the 18th Arrondissement to pick up some Baby Cashmere.

The last item on her list.Just looking at it made her go scarlet.

“So measurements,” Marinette said.

“Oh, right here,” Adrien said, pulling a slip of paper out of his pocket.“It’s from a fitting I did a couple of weeks ago.”

“Great,” Marinette said, calming her beating heart.

It was easy enough to work out her usual labor rates, but she’d have to get some invoices for the materials later.Then came a decisive moment.

“If you have some time, did you want to play Mecha Strike?”

Adrien looked at his watch.“Yes,” he said.“Definitely.”He didn’t look awkward, so he probably wasn’t saying ‘yes’ just to be polite.

“Great,” Marinette said, and they got settled in front of her game station.

“This is a nice setup you’ve got here,” Adrien said politely.

Marinette knew he had a much nicer one in his bedroom.“Thanks,” she said, starting a new game.Marinette was competitive, at least when it came to games, and that helped for a bit, keeping her focused and forgetting that the love of her life was sitting next to her, which was the point, she couldn’t keep acting like he was sunshine incarnate. 

“So, when did you get into fashion?” Adrien asked, starting a conversation for her with an easy topic.

“Oh, I was nine, and my class got a backstage tour at the Salle Gaveau when they put on a production of Oliver Twist,” Marinette said.“We got to talk to this woman who did the costumes for the production and I thought it was so cool.My parents got me a sewing machine the next week.”

“I bet you still have the first thing you made,” Adrien said.

“Nope,” Marinette said loudly, as she offed his mech on the screen.

“Hmm,” Adrien said.

“It’s terrible,” Marinette said.

“I’m pretty sure the first thing Van Gogh ever drew was terrible, but it’d probably auction for some ridiculous amount if it were still around.”

Marinette focused on killing him again.Was he comparing her to Van Gogh? 

She cleared her throat.“Trying to get your hands on a Dupain-Cheng original if this modeling thing doesn’t work out?”

“Mmm, I think I have this modeling thing in the bag,” Adrien said.

Marinette blushed and threw his mech off a cliff.

“Of course, if it doesn’t work out, I could always set sail and become a pirate on the high seas. I’ve already got my sword.”

“I can’t really see you as a rogue,” Marinette said, also she didn’t think a fencing foil counted.

“How about now?” Adrien asked.

Marinette turned her head and she melted.That was definitely a roguish look, that was a roguish look directed right at her, by Adrien.Adrien was looking at her like that. 

“U- um,”

That was not fair! She’d been doing so well, and then he just had to do that to her.And then it hit her, because she’d seen that look before, Chat Noir looked at her like that sometimes.Had Chat been looking at Adrien like that?

“Where’d you get that from?” Marinette asked.

“My face?” Adrien asked.

“That look?” Marinette asked.

Please don’t say Chat Noir, please don’t say Chat Noir.

“Flynn Rider,” Adrien said.“Nino insisted I watch tangled a bit ago.”

“Right!” Marinette exclaimed.“I just… I thought it looked familiar.”

Yes, yes, yes.Crisis averted.

“So, did I look sufficiently roguish?” Adrien asked.

Adrien had looked like he belonged on the cover of a romance novel, holding a sultry women in his arms.

“U- um, I suppose,” Marinette said.“A bit roguish.”

“Oh,” Adrien said.“I’ll have to work on it then.”

That could be the death of her.Adrien’s phone buzzed. 

“Looks like my time’s up,” Adrien said.“Thanks again, I had fun.”

“We could do it again sometime,” Marinette said, before she could second guess herself.

“Definitely,” Adrien said, and he smiled that perfect warm smile at her and then she walked him down to the front where his bodyguard was holding a to-go coffee cup in one hand and a Pellegrino in the other that he handed to Adrien.Marinette watched them leave for probably a bit too long, and when she turned around, there were her parents.

“So,” Mom said. “How’d it go?”

“He wants three outfits,” Marinette said excitedly.

“That’s great,” Mom said.

“So will Adrien be coming over more often?” Dad asked innocently.

“Nope, nothing’s going on,” Marinette said.“Gotta get started.”She was definitely going to do a practice run before working with any of the expensive fabrics.She also had to call Alya.

* * *

Ladybug was amazing at so many things, but there was one thing Chat excelled at, and that was sneaking around.Of course, he had to show her his awesome skills now and then.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Ladybug said.Her reflexes, though, were very good and perhaps startling her was a risky endeavor.

Adrien peeled himself off of the ground.“Worth it,” he said.

“Are you alright?” Ladybug asked.

“If I said my cheek was bruised, would you kiss it and make it better?” Adrien asked, pulling out his roguish look for the second time that day.He needed to practice apparently.

Ladybug did a double take before rolling her eyes.“Do you need some help bruising it first?”

“We could always do another race,” Adrien said, a Cheshire grin on his face.He would win this time.He would win a kiss, and a part of him was somewhat relieved with the certainty that he still definitely wanted a kiss from Ladybug, that he still definitely loved her, because some of the things he had been reading had him questioning what he felt about a lot of things, or maybe more specifically about people, and he didn’t want to question his feelings for his lady. 

“I wanted to do a bit of a presence patrol in the third Arrondissement actually,” Ladybug said, causing Chat to sober a bit.There’d been an attack the night before that had probably been a hate crime.No Akuma, just… people.

“Good idea,” Chat said.At the very least, they could help reassure the people in the area and show where they stood on the matter. 

They could have raced, but it didn’t feel appropriate.They got there quickly enough, crossing the Seine and passing the Louvre in the distance, and then, instead of running across the rooftops, they walked through the streets, occasionally greeted by passers by.Everything was peaceful though.People seemed to like having them around. 

After they did some circuits of the heavily trafficked areas they relaxed a bit. The somberness could only last so long.

“Tell me something good that’s happening in your life,” Adrien said.

“Something good, hmm?”

“Or something bad,” Adrien said.“I’m sure I give great advice.”

“I’ve started a new project,” Ladybug said.“I’m pretty excited about it.”

Adrien knew he wasn’t going to get anything more than that it was a project.“Just you or is this a group thing?”

“Just me,” Ladybug said.“Though I do have a muse.”

“A muse, huh?” Adrien asked.“Is it me?”

Ladybug looked like she was going to laugh him off before becoming thoughtful.“I suppose you were,” she said.“Just a bit.”

He’d take it.“Well, if you’re ever looking for inspiration,” he said.

“I’ll watch Project Runway,” Ladybug said.

“You’re into fashion!” Adrien whisper shouted.

That was something she probably hadn’t meant to say.It took her a moment before she said, “Yes.”

Adrien tucked that away.Someday, he would have all sorts of things to talk to her about.They just had to take care of Hawkmoth first.

“Okay, that’s enough about me,” Ladybug said.“Come on, lay it on me, the good, the bad, the ugly.”

He was all ready to go with the good, but what came out instead was, “My friend thinks my family’s messed up.”

They didn’t stop walking, you didn’t do that if you didn’t want to invite people to come up to you for an autograph or a photo, but Ladybug suddenly looked at him with such concern, he was sure she wanted to pull him into a hug that he very suddenly felt like he needed.Which was wrong; he was supposed to be projecting confidence for the people.He put on his mask and smiled at someone waving to them from across the narrow street.He hated wearing masks as Chat.It felt so much more fake than when he was Adrien.

“Did he say that to be mean, or…”

“No,” Adrien said.“He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, unless his kid brother starts making kissy noises when his girlfriend is around.”He smiled at her, because he didn’t want to bring her his problems just then. 

Ladybug didn’t take the bait though.“Do you think he’s worried about you?”

He’d as good as said it.“A bit, I guess.I… I guess he thinks my dad’s a bit distant, you know, and pretty strict… and demanding.It’s not bad or anything.It’s just different from what he’s used to I guess.”

Ladybug’s hand slipped into his.“What about your mom?” she asked.

“Oh,” Adrien said.“Um, yeah, she’s… not around anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” Ladybug said.“Do you feel alright at home?”

“Yeah, of course,” Adrien was quick to say.“Hey, did you know people write fiction about us?”

There was a pause; that had been beyond transparent. 

“Like the movie?” Ladybug let him change the topic, she kept hold of his hand though and Adrien could swear he felt her magic tingling through his finger tips like a blessing.

“Yeah,” Adrien said. “But, like just a bunch of different people writing their own stories and posting them online.”

“About us?”

“Yeah.”

“What about us?”

“Romance for the most part.”

“Oh, is this your way of telling me all of Paris thinks we were meant to be together?”

“No no,” Adrien said. “I was just surprised to find all these stories out there.”

“Taking pointers for how Chat Noir sweeps Ladybug off her feet?”

“I haven’t read any of those,” Adrien said, and was suddenly surprised by the fact that he hadn’t read a single one of them.

“Oh, any pointers for how we find Hawkmoth?”

“Oh, there’s lots,” Chat said and then striking a dramatic tone he went on.“Oh my gosh, Ladybug, what if we follow the butterflies after you purify them?”

Ladybug snorted a very cute laugh.“Back to week one, huh?”

“Oh, you think that’s funny,” Adrien said.“You know Darth Vader?”

“They think he’s your father?” Ladybug asked catching on.

“It’s one of the most common tropes!” Adrien said.

Ladybug laughed, and the smile that got out of him was much too soft for Chat Noir, so he turned it into a smirk.She schooled herself pretty quickly, and Adrien remembered that they were supposed to be looking professional.

“I guess I did come across something like that a bit ago,” Ladybug said.

“A thrilling romance for the ages?” Adrien asked.

“It was a drawing,” Ladybug said.

“Oh, you have to be careful with those,” Adrien said.

“I know that now,” Ladybug said.“Now, keep in mind, I only saw this by accident over someone’s shoulder.”

“Oh, this sounds bad,” Adrien said.“Was it you and me?”

“Well, _I_ wasn’t in it,” Ladybug said.

“Well, who was?” Adrien asked.

“Oh, I don’t want to say now,” Ladybug said, looking embarrassed now.

“Oh, well then you definitely have to tell me,” Adrien said.

“Well, you were in it,” Ladybug said, sounding evasive.

That was when Adrien knew. “With Adrien Agreste?”

Ladybug gasped.“You’ve seen it too?”

“Well, I didn’t go looking for it,” Adrien said. Not specifically.“How bad was it?”

Ladybug paused.“Well, the artist was fairly skilled.”

Adrien suddenly didn’t want to know if she’d seen a PG rated picture or an R rated picture.

“Ha ha, yeah, it’s a common ship?” Adrien said.Most popular right after ‘LadyNoir.’

There was another pause.“Have you read any of them?”

“Ha ha, what?No, of course not. Why, have you read any of them?”

Ladybug gave him a wide eyed look that meant she hadn’t bought that for a moment.

“They’re, um, surprisingly well written, some of them,” Adrien said.“Not that I’ve read a lot of them or anything.Just, um, curious, you know?”He turned his head forward, unable to look at her, and certain that his cheeks were moments away from bursting into flames.

They walked in silence for a bit, still holding hands.

“Do you have a crush on him?” Ladybug asked.

“My heart belongs to you, Ladybug,” Adrien said.

There was more silence.It was messed up that he couldn’t quite answer the question for himself.He could hear Chloe in his head proclaiming him ‘utterly ridiculous.’

“Can I tell you something?” Adrien asked casually, making sure he didn’t sound hesitant.“Something I haven’t told anyone?”

“Had you told anyone you read stories about you dating Adrien?” Ladybug asked

“Well, no,” Adrien said.“I guess something more serious? Or not, I mean it isn’t really a big deal or anything.”

“Is it…”

“It isn’t identifying,” Adrien assured her.

“Well, alright then,” Ladybug said.“As long as it isn’t identifying, you can tell me anything.”She looked like she was fortifying herself.

Adrien chuckled nervously.So much for confidence.“I guess I’ve been questioning for a bit,” he said.“I mean I definitely like girls.But, maybe also guys?”

“Oh,” Ladybug said, and then, “I guess, same?Or opposite really.”

“Really?” Adrien asked.

“Yeah,” Ladybug said. 

It happened quickly.She kissed him on the cheek.“Come on, they’re selling cocoa.”

He let himself get dragged over to a stand, his cheek tingling more than the hand that held Ladybug’s.

“I’ve got it,” Adrien said, pulling out the nondescript wallet he kept for Chat Noir.

“Then I’m getting the cookies,” Ladybug said, pulling a five euro note out of her yoyo.

The cookies were massive, and the cocoa was piled high with whipped cream.Plagg had told him that calories didn’t count in the suit, so everything was great.The only shame was that now they weren’t walking hand in hand.

“Thanks for telling me,” Ladybug said.“It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who hasn’t figured it out.”

“You’ll always have me, my lady,” Adrien said, and he said it casually, in a friendly manner, but he wanted to say it as a solemn vow.

“Well, I’d better,” Ladybug said.“You need to be more careful.”

“Of course,” Adrien readily agreed.He was always careful, but Ladybug came first. “Have you told anyone?” Adrien asked.

“Only Tiki,” Ladybug said.

“And she was alright with it?”

“Of course,” Ladybug said, as if she couldn’t have imagined any other outcome.What would Plagg do?

“So when did you start questioning?” he asked.

“A few months ago,” Ladybug said.“I met a girl at… a sporting event, and at first I didn’t like her, but then suddenly I wanted to be her friend, and… I don’t know.I mean, I really don’t know, it’s all a… jumble.” She sighed.“What about you?”

“Oh, only a few weeks,” Adrien said.“And…” he absolutely couldn’t say that he’d seen a dirty drawing of Adrien and Chat Noir.“Um… underwear model.”That was close enough anyway.

Ladybug grinned.“Just walking through C&A and then bam?”

Adrien grinned back at her.“Oh yeah? You know what sort of advertisements you see in the men’s section of C&A?”

“Mmm, abs,” Ladybug said.

Adrien almost did a spit take.He licked whipped cream from his lips but before he could say anything, Ladybug came back with, “So then you started reading the fan fiction?”

“Oh, yeah, I don’t know, people were writing about me, I guess I was just trying things out, with a guy, without actually…You know?I was exploring, I guess.”Then he said, “But anyway, if you like abs, you need look no further than this guy right here my lady.”

She glanced down at him a bit sideways.He was certain that if her hands had been free she would have poked him in the short ribs.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said.“I bet Adrien has better abs.”He was certain now, that she was teasing him, and that she’d timed that for when he was drinking.

Turnabout was only fair.“I’ll have to go find out and report back in,” Adrien said.“Don’t worry, I can be objective, and I already know all the pickup lines to woo Adrien.”

Ladybug was amazing, even doing a spit take.

* * *

“Relax,” Plagg said.“How can I nap when you’re so agitated?”

“This has to go well,” Adrien said. “He’s going to hear me play and then we’re going to have dinner like a normal family.”

“You think he’s going to skip dinner if you don’t play well enough?” Plagg asked, though it sounded more like he was pointing it out.

“He might think I should have dinner after I practice more and then dinner won’t fit in his schedule,” Adrien said.

“Sure, because he’s an ass.You’re also acting like this is a date,” Plagg said. 

“He’s not, and I’m not, it’s just been a while since he had any time for me.I want to tell him about everything I’ve been doing.He’ll probably be proud of my physics project.”

“Oh,” Plagg said.“And then he’ll love you, I guess.”

“Don’t say that,” Adrien said, throwing a hurt look at Plagg.“Father loves me.That’s why he worries over me so much.”

Plagg sighed.“That’s not what he’s doing, kid.”

There was a knock at the door and Plagg zoomed into Adrien’s shirt a moment before Nathalie opened the doors.She had her iPad in one arm and the stand for it in the other.Adrien’s heart sank, but still, maybe after…

Adrien went and sat at the piano and waited.A few minutes later, his dad showed up on the iPad.It was clear he was in his car, so Adrien could still hope.

“Father,” Adrien greeted.“Good afternoon.I’m excited to play for you… Will you be arriving soon for dinner?”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to cancel our plans for this evening Adrien,” Father said.“Something’s come up, I’m heading for the airport.”

“Oh,” Adrien said, feeling suddenly like he didn’t want any dinner anyway.“Maybe after I play for you, you can stay on and we could talk for a bit.”

“I’ll have to see how much time I have after you play,” Father said.“Nathalie said you have a request for me.”

“Yes,” Adrien said, now certain he would be denied.“Mr. D’Argencourt is taking a few students to a practice bout with a team in Dunkirk, it would be an overnight outing and he wants me to come along.It’s the first Saturday of next month, and Nathalie says there isn’t anything that can’t be rescheduled easily.”

“What are they ranked?” Father asked.

“They aren’t yet,” Adrien said.“But Mr. D’Argencourt says their new coach is very good and they’re expected to do well this year.”

“Then they should be coming to you, and I fail to see what you would benefit from playing opponents who will not challenge you.Life does not hand you easy wins Adrien.I see no reason to waste your time with this.”

“I thought it might be fun,” Adrien said.

“You have time for fun built into your schedule,” Father said.

“Oh,” Adrien said.He couldn’t argue when he wanted there to be time after he played for his father.That was more important than some beach trip with some teammates.“Right, I should get started then.”

He looked at the music in front of him, Chopin Op. 52 No. 2, which no longer felt right at all.He put it aside and pulled out something else he had been working on, not something from any of his father’s suggestions.Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues was an energetic and, some would say, a fun piece to play.It could also be an angry piece, (was Adrien angry)? It wasn’t as highly technical like some of his other pieces, but it had its own ways of challenging a pianist, it was creative and daring, and Father did that with his business so maybe that was what he would want.Maybe he would respect that.Maybe it felt like what Adrien was feeling just then.He hadn’t practiced it enough, but he felt it just then, and as the simple beginning built and built in feeling and complexity, Adrien wondered if his father could hear it, if he could hear what Adrien was feeling, or if Adrien just wasn’t skilled enough to convey it. 

It had been weeks.He hadn’t had a face to face conversation with his dad that wasn’t a quick rebuke or caution in weeks, longer since they’d eaten together.No talk of rescheduling when he got back.No apology.He didn’t even act like he was disappointed to have to miss dinner.Adrien had done so much lately.He’d tried so hard.He was acing all his classes, he was keeping things quick at photoshoots and not wasting anyone’s time, he had advanced in his fencing division, his Mandarin tutor said he was gaining mastery faster than expected, and he did all of that on top of helping Ladybug save Paris a few times a week.He put everything into being able to have something to show to his father, and then nothing.

“Enough,” Father said, interrupting Adrien’s recital.“It’s clear you need more practice.Nathalie can push your dinner back while you work on something more appropriate.Perhaps some Chopin.This piece isn’t going to develop any of your skills.”

Adrien looked up from the music.Father looked annoyed.

“Since I didn’t finish, do you have time to hear about my studies?” Adrien asked.

“Nathalie has been keeping me updated on your progress,” Father said.“I need to prepare for my flight now.”

“Oh,” Adrien said.“Have a safe flight, Father.”

“Practice well, Adrien,” Father said by way of farewell and Nathalie turned off the iPad.She sorted some of his sheet music for a bit and then put Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude in front of him.

“Perhaps this is what you were looking for,” Nathalie said.

Adrien stared at the opening for a moment while Nathalie gathered up her iPad and its stand.

“Where is father flying off to?” Adrien asked. 

“A new opportunity in Shanghai,” Nathalie said.“It was rather sudden.”

“Maybe he should have brought me along to translate,” Adrien said. 

“Your father will have a professional translator,” Nathalie said.“Dinner will be rescheduled for nine o’ clock.”

“When is his flight taking off?” Adrien asked.

Nathalie paused.“I’d have to look that up,” she said evenly.“I’ll let you know when he lands.”

Adrien nodded and turned to the music, trying out the opening chords to get a feel for it.He’d heard it several times, of course, but it was a bit more advanced than anything else he’d ever played.Maybe Father wanted him to be more ambitious.It was also a song you could play angry.He wasn’t feeling angry anymore though, just worn out.

“Well, that sucked,” Plagg said, popping out of his chest.

“I wasn’t that bad,” Adrien said defensively, going through one of the complex runs down the keyboard.He’d been proud of his performance until Father had interrupted him.“Father has high standards for me.”

“Yeah, that’s what sucked,” Plagg said.“Among a bunch of other things.”

Adrien shrugged. 

“Come on,” Plagg said.“I bet some food would help cheer you up.”

“I’m practicing till nine,” Adrien said. 

“Yeah that’s forever away, so Nathalie won’t check on you for at least another hour,” Plagg said. 

“I’ve got to have something to show Father when he returns,” Adrien said, experimenting a bit with the sustain pedal. 

“You’ve got to do some cheering up,” Plagg said.

“Yeah, sure, just get Chat Noir to come and give me a kiss,” Adrien said.

Plagg snorted.“What?”

“Ladybug!” Adrien exclaimed.“A kiss from Ladybug, I mean.I definitely meant to say Ladybug.Obviously, Chat Noir can’t give me a kiss.Not that I’d want a kiss from Chat Noir, who is me, and a guy.”

“Oh, he can’t kiss you, can he?” Plagg asked.“Are you sure? You know I’ve got an in with the guy.”

“Oh my god, stop,” Adrien said. 

“I mean, I guess I can see the appeal,” Plagg said.“You wouldn’t have to worry about your schedules aligning.”

“Plagg, I meant Ladybug,” Adrien said.

“I mean, as long as you know there isn’t some other guy out there named Chat Noir,” Plagg said. 

“I know,” Adrien said.“It was just a slip of the tongue.”

“You mean you want to slip your tongue into Chat Noir’s mouth,” Plagg said.

“Plagg, eww,” Adrien said, hoping his blush would go away if he just focused on the music.He felt like he needed another hand.“There isn’t a difference though, right?”

“What do you mean?” Plagg asked.

“I just wonder some times,” Adrien said.

“About whether Chat Noir thinks you’re hot?”

“Ugh.About if I’m different when I’m Chat Noir,” Adrien said.

“Well, of course you’re different,” Plagg said.“You think you could normally survive getting thrown two city blocks into a brick wall?”

“I meant like me, am I, Adrien, different when I’m Chat Noir?”

“There’s just one of you kid,” Plagg said.“There’s no one to split off of you and carry you off along the rooftops of Paris.”

“I know that, but, like, does being Chat Noir make me different?”

“I mean, yeah, but that’s a circumstance thing, I’m not mind controlling you,” Plagg said.

“I know you’re not mind controlling me,” Adrien said.“But there’s really no influence?”

“Why are you asking?” Plagg asked.

Adrien played for a bit.

“Maybe I just don’t normally feel like Chat Noir,” Adrien said.

“Sure,” Plagg said.“You said Adrien has to wear a mask.”

“What if that’s just an excuse?” Adrien asked, falling out of the piece.“What if that’s all I’ve ever been without the ring?What if that’s all I’ll ever be?”

“There’s no fake Adrien, kid,” Plagg said.“They’re both you.They both come from you just reacting to what you’ve got.Chat Noir was in you before I ever came along, that’s _why_ I came along, and Adrien doesn’t go anywhere just because you’re wearing black.I’ll leave the mental stuff to Nooroo.”

“You mean it?” Adrien asked.

“I don’t just get handed out to anybody,” Plagg said.“You are my Chosen.”

The cross-rythms were really tricky, even when he slowed it down a bunch.

“What if I’m not exactly what you thought when I was chosen?” Adrien asked.

“You’ve been doing pretty alright kid,” Plagg said.

“Sure,” Adrien said.“But what if I were different?”

Plagg gave a sigh that said, ‘I could have been napping.’

“Give me an example.”

“I don’t know, like anything,” Adrien said, trying to sound like he was thinking of something in the moment.“Like, well, maybe if I weren’t straight or something like that.”

“What the hell does that have to do with you being Chat Noir?” Plagg asked.

“I don’t know,” Adrien said.“You’re really old.”

“Kid, your species has been around a tiny fraction of my existence; homophobia’s been around an even tinier fraction.”

“Oh,” Adrien said.“So you’d be okay with that?”

“Do you need to be straight to give me cheese?”

“Really?” Adrien asked.

“Duh,” was Plagg’s reply.“What, were you worried the Guardian was going to come and take your ring if he found out you were thinking about Chat Noir when I’m giving you alone time?”

“Plagg!” Adrien said, looking around like he didn’t already know they were alone.“I don’t know, maybe he would.Not that I do, of course.”The Guardian, at least, was a human.

“Well, he wouldn’t,” Plagg said.“And if he did he’d have to get through me.”

Adrien looked down, because that had happened before.Plagg had been just as asleep as Adrien had been, though, when Wayz had come to take back his ring.

“Look don’t worry about it,” Plagg said. “Besides, I thought this was all a hypothetical.”

“Well, um, it’s not,” Adrien said, and it wasn’t.After he’d actually said it out loud to Ladybug the week prior, Adrien had really started to think about it and process it.There were some of the older models he’d worked with who he’d been admiring in a way he was pretty sure couldn’t be chalked up to professional interest.He’d been ‘admiring’ them for the past few years, and it was just that he’d never shied away from calling it attraction when it was a woman while calling it something else it if it were a man.

“Cool,” Plagg said.“Still doesn’t have anything to do with you being Chat Noir.You can go ahead and smooch Carapace on national television for all I care.”

“I think Rena Rouge would have something to say about that,” Adrien said.They weren’t exactly subtle.Maybe Ladybug would be jealous too.

“Alright, Viperion then,” Plagg said.

Adrien had a brief thought about kissing Luka and really had to focus on the music for a bit.

“Thanks Plagg,” Adrien said.“I’m still never getting you Pont L’eveque ever again.”

“I could eat it outside!” Plagg insisted.

“Never again,” Adrien said.

“Such cruelty, I have never experienced,” Plagg said.

Maybe Adrien would get him something good besides.With Father out of town, he’d have just a bit more freedom.Maybe he could treat himself to something.

* * *

There was something about reading a story where Chat Noir raps on his window late at night just to spend time with him that made his heart thud in his chest.He always liked the stories told from ‘Adrien’s’ perspective more than the ones told from ‘Chat Noir’s.’Was that weird? When it was Chat Noir he felt better represented him?This one ended with a kiss that left Adrien incredibly distracted.What _would_ it be like to kiss Luka? After Plagg had suggested it, the thought kept popping up into his head.

* * *

The next day, he pretty much spent every bit of unscheduled time as Chat Noir while his father was out.No Akumas, but it was better to wave at a bunch of Parisians than it was to sit in his house.The night after Father left found Adrien taking an early dinner before sneaking out with Plagg.Patrol would be later, and he wanted to destress before he saw Ladybug.He found himself swinging closer to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.Maybe a pastry was in order.Calories didn’t count when he was Chat Noir.

The trap door to Marinette’s balcony was closed, so Adrien figured he’d patronize the business down below.As he got close, though, the trap door opened and Chat Noir changed course, alighting on the balcony.

“Good evening, Princess,” Adrien greeted.

It was not Marinette climbing up though, but Alya.

“Princess?” Alya asked.

“Um, hi, Ladyblogger,” Adrien said.

“Hold on,” Alya said. “Don’t go anywhere.”

 _Should_ he go somewhere?

“Marinette?” Alya called down.“Does Chat Noir call you ‘Princess?’”

“I’m sure he calls every young lady ‘Princess,’” Marinette said. 

“I guess I’m not a young lady, then,” Alya said. 

“Just get out of the doorway,” Marinette said.

“Come on Chat Noir,” Alya said.“I won’t keep you from your princess.”

“This feels like a trap,” Adrien said.

“There’s pastries,” Alya called from below.

At least it was a well catered trap.

“I only know one princess,” Adrien said when he landed down in Marinette’s bedroom.

“Are you saying Ladybug isn’t a princess?” Marinette asked.

“Ladybug is my queen,” Adrien insisted, hand over his heart.

Marinette laughed.

“So, Chat Noir,” Alya said. “Do you come here often?”

“The best pastries in all of Paris,” Adrien said.“And you can quote me on that.”

“I can quote you, huh?” Alya had a gleam in her eye.“Want to do an interview?”

Marinette rolled her eyes.

“Well sure,” Chat said.“Two minutes, and I require pastries.”

“Oh, I don’t have any of my equipment,” Alya said.

“You are not filming in my bedroom,” Marinette said, and brought over a cheese danish for Adrien and a notepad for Alya. 

Alya rolled with it, just leaving her phone on Marinette's desk with the voice recorder on and standing at the ready to take notes.“So you think the Dupain-Cheng bakery is the best, where else can Parisians spot Chat Noir when he’s looking for a snack.”

“Well, it’s pretty easy to find Andre’s ice cream cart when you can get a bird’s eye view of the city,” Adrien said.“Oh, and that Moroccan place on Rue du Faubourg.They’ve got these spiced potato cakes.” Calories didn’t count when he was wearing the suit.

“Switching tracks,” Alya said.“Do you have any leads on Hawkmoth?”

“Ladybug’s decided we shouldn’t risk letting Hawkmoth know where things stand,” Adrien said.“I will say also, though, that we’re both equipped to stop Akuma victims, but neither of us are criminal investigators.We’re working on our end to identify Hawkmoth, but I’m sure the police and the DGSI are further along.”

“Have you been coordinating with either?” Alya asked.

“I can’t comment,” Adrien said easily.He had been trained for this, though normally it was someone asking questions about the next Agreste line.Of course, those answers usually ended with, ‘but I’m so excited to see it come out; so many people have been working hard to make this our best fashion week yet.’

“Can you comment about how the part time heroes have been chosen?” Alya asked.

“You’d have to ask Ladybug,” Adrien said.“That’s not a mouse this kitty chases.”

“So what does this kitty chase?” Alya asked. 

“Well, Akumas, usually,” Adrien said.“My spot on the team though is tank.Of course, my most important job is making Ladybug laugh.”

That got a snort out of Marinette.

“Do you think the team is well balanced right now, or do you think more heroes should be added?” Alya asked.

“We’re well balanced,” Adrien said.“But sometimes a situation calls for a rather specific power set, so it’s all rather a matter of adjusting on the fly.”

“Have you noticed any patterns with what sort of people become the most difficult Akuma?”

“No,” Adrien said.“It’s all sorts, though I will say that the most annoying Akuma are the ones who get Akumatized for the worst reasons.”

“Like what?” Alya asked.

“Well,” Adrien said.“Keep in mind, when people agree to Hawkmoth’s bargain, they’re already under his influence, so every one is a victim.”

“But…”

“But we had an Akuma who would not shut up about being friend zoned,” Adrien said.That one had led him to a lot of introspection.

“Oh, yeah,” Alya said.“I remember that one, that guy was the worst.Anything you want to say to the young men of Paris?”

“Sure,” Adrien said.“Friendship is magic, and you should be so lucky…No one owes it to you to fall in love with you.”No matter how much you loved them.

“So what’s happening in _your_ love life?” Alya asked. 

“I’m figuring it out,” Adrien said.“I guess I’ve made it pretty clear I love Ladybug, but being her friend is the best thing in the world, even if she never returns my feelings.”

“Any attempts to wade out into the rest of the dating pool?” Alya asked.

“No,” Adrien said.“Though… I’ve recently realized that the pool’s a bit bigger than I thought.”

Maybe Adrien couldn’t come out without a consultation with the company's publicist, but Chat Noir could, and he knew well enough that some people needed a queer superhero.Who else did Chat Noir need besides Ladybug and Plagg in his corner.

“Oh yeah?” Alya asked.

“Um, yeah,” Adrien said, and then he had to put on a Cheshire grin.“Turns out this kitty scratches both arms of the couch.”

“Are you bisexual?” Alya asked.

“Well, this kitty doesn’t have a tag on his collar yet, but I don’t think it would be wrong, exactly, to say that.”

“Any advice to the LGBT youth of Paris?” Alya asked.

“Oh,” Adrien said.“I’m very new to all of this, so I don’t know about advice, but, um, you’re clawesome, even if you haven’t figured it out yet.”He still felt out of his depth, he just hadn’t expected it.He’d had briefings on how to go about dating while in the public eye, and none of them had ever acknowledged that he might be dating a guy.“I think that’s two minutes.”

“Great,” Marinette said.“Come here, I think 'this kitty’s' the right size; I want to see how this looks on you.”

“With the shoulder pads?” Alya asked.

“It’ll have to do,” Marinette said.

“You should ask Adrien to come over and try it on,” Alya said.

“Chat Noir is right here,” Marinette said.She brought over a sweater, and Adrien realized it was _his_ sweater.Of course he was the right size.He started buzzing with excitement.

“A boon from a princess?” Adrien asked, knowing full well what it was, but always happy to play up the knight in shining armor persona.

“A commission for a friend,” Marinette said, calling Adrien a friend once more.

Adrien slipped the sweater on, careful with his claws, and dashed to Marinette’s mirror.“How do I look?” he asked. “Does this alley cat clean up or what?”It wasn’t finished yet, there were still several accent pieces missing that he’d seen in the design Marinette had drawn, but it fit him exactly like he had imagined it would.

“Strike a pose,” Alya said, and of course he went to his usual standby on impulse.Marinette started coughing for some reason.

“You’ve been paying attention to those Agreste adds, have you?” Alya asked.

“Ha ha. What can I say, he’s pretty cute.”Now he was blushing.

“Uh oh, Marinette, you have competition.”

“Alya,” Marinette hissed, going scarlet.

“What?” Alya asked.“The whole school knows, but it’s top secret for Chat Noir?”

That couldn’t be right.The whole school didn’t know, because Adrien didn’t know, and Marinette definitely didn’t like him like that, they’d just gotten to the point where she called him a friend.Why would she fall for Adrien in the first place?Adrien wasn’t who he was really, or at least, he was just a part of who Adrien was.

“Was that why you asked what I thought about him last month?” Adrien asked.

“Ooh, getting love advice from Chat Noir, huh?” Alya asked.

That was when she’d thought he was into Adrien, a misapprehension that would be laughable if Adrien wasn’t still reading Chatrien stories online.

Marinette walked up and started adjusting how the sweater fell on him and putting in pins here and there.“I was just getting a second opinion,” Marinette said.

“Oh yeah, so what do you like about him?” Adrien asked, making sure to sound as bold as Chat Noir always was, and not vulnerable like he felt.Was it even alright to ask that?

“He’s kind,” Marinette said.

“I’m sure a lot of guys in your class are kind,” Adrien said.

“And humble, and helpful, and he’s always interested in the lives of the people around him, and you can tell that he really is, that it isn’t just pretend, and when he smiles at you, his whole face lights up, and… and I think he’s lonely, and I think he’s dealing with a lot of things that he doesn’t want to bother other people with, but I want to be there for him, but every time I get close to him I just get panicked that I’m going to say the wrong thing, and then I can barely talk at all, and…”

“Breathe, girl,” Alya said. 

“You, um, you really like him, don’t you,” Adrien said.Was that why she always seemed uncomfortable around him?

Alya looked him right in the eyes and nodded her head firmly, and perhaps a bit threateningly.He made a small gesture of his own to concede that he wasn’t about to sweep Adrien off his feet, while Marinette collected herself.

“I do,” Marinette said.

Was that going to be an issue? What if she confessed to him, to Adrien-him.Would he just break her heart?

“Well, I think he’s really going to like this sweater,” Adrien said.

“You haven’t even seen the finished product yet,” Marinette said.

“I can’t imagine you making something he wouldn’t love,” Adrien said.

“Yeah,” Alya said.“He loved the scarf you gave him.”

What scarf?

“Oh my god, don’t remind me,” Marinette said.

“What happened?” Adrien asked.

“She made him a scarf for his birthday and then forgot to include the card,” Alya said.

“I remembered,” Marinette said.“It must have gotten lost.”

“So what happened?” Adrien asked, but he was afraid he already knew the answer.

“He thought his dad gave it to him,” Marinette said.

“You didn’t say anything?”

Marinette shrugged.

“That would have meant talking to him,” Alya said.

“He seemed so happy to have gotten it from his dad,” Marinette said.Because she saw the same thing strangers on the internet could see.He had been ecstatic that he hadn’t just gotten the usual fancy pen for his birthday, but things hadn’t been mixed up, his dad just hadn’t gotten him anything.It probably hadn’t been worth his time.

“Hey, um, I should head home,” Adrien said, carefully pulling the sweater over his head.“My parents will be expecting me soon.”

Marinette frowned at him.

“Any trouble sneaking out at night?” Alya asked, because an interview was never over.

“Not as much as you’d think,” Adrien said.“I’ll see you later princess, Ladyblogger.”

He leaped upwards and through the trapdoor to Marinette’s balcony and from there he made his way home as quickly as he could.Entering his bedroom through the open window, he looked around the large room. A great big room that was full of so much stuff, but it still felt empty.Adrien went to his closet and grabbed the offending item.It had never been real.Maybe it was as much an illusion as his father’s love.

“Cataclysm,” Adrien invoked, calling the pulsing dark energy into in his hand as if the hurt and frustration inside of him had poured out through all the pores in his palm.Before he could wrap it around the scarf, though, he saw what he should have seen from the beginning.It blended into the stitching, though, Marinette’s signature, the same way it had been hidden in her derby hat design.Even if she had only ever seen a barely real part of Adrien, she had still made it with love.His fencing trophy crumbled to ash instead.Father hadn’t been there.

Adrien wrapped the scarf around his neck and collapsed into his bed, letting the transformation time out.

“You okay kid?” Plagg asked.

Adrien stared up at the ceiling for a bit.“I don’t think so,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked that. I know this started off as a comedy of errors, but the evil inside of me was on the rise so I made Adrien sad. Thanks to everyone who comments.


	3. At Least Once More

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear this was just supposed to be a crackfic. Updated Tags.

There were stories where Adrien ran away; where Chat Noir took him away from a cold and empty home.There were others where Adrien rebelled, where Adrien ruined Father’s carefully curated image of his fashion empire, destroyed the dynasty that never passed its first generation. Adrien didn’t want to rebel though.He didn’t want to cause a scandal, that would cause problems for a lot of people besides his dad.He didn’t want to refuse to go to fencing; it kept him sharp when he was Chat Noir.He didn’t want to stop playing the piano, because it was his mother who had taught him to play in the first place.He didn’t want to rebel, and he didn’t want to run away, he just wanted Father to care about him.Father had been akumatized because Adrien had screwed up.Marinette’s father had been akumatized because someone had broken her heart.

“Okay, enough moping, I’m starving,” Plagg said.

“I’m not moping,” Adrien said.He was just taking an hour long shower because the world looked different when hot water cascaded over you.He shut off the water.He hadn’t slept well the night before and just wound up starting his day early.Early enough that Nathalie hadn’t come up to make sure he was getting ready for a morning photoshoot.Early enough that he could have gone and greeted his father at the door; his flight had gotten in very early that morning.Adrien shut off the water and dripped a bit until Plagg dropped a towel on him.

Eventually, Adrien got some cheese out of his mini fridge and passed it off to Plagg, an offering to the tiny god that slept in his gym bag. 

Plagg looked at it critically.

“Epoisses de Bourgogne,” Adrien told him.He’d stopped at a cheesemonger as Chat Noir to find some variety for Plagg. 

Plagg took a bite and mulled it over for a bit.The aroma became a bit more prominent.

“Okay,” Adrien said.“No need to air it out.”

“I like it,” Plagg said and swallowed the rest.“So what are you going to do today?” Plagg asked.

“Whatever’s on my schedule,” Adrien said.There wasn’t much room for anything else.

“Why?” Plagg asked.

“Because if I don’t show up, people get sent home and don’t get paid.” Adrien said.

“Okay, but what are you going to do about your dad?” Plagg asked.

“Maybe there isn’t anything to do,” Adrien said. 

“Sure there is,” Plagg said.“You can spend more time with the people who actually care about you.You need to clear up your schedule.”

“If I want to have _any_ time with my friends, I need to stick to my schedule,” Adrien said.It wasn’t as though he had any actual control over it or like Father would tolerate rebellion.It wasn’t as though Father didn’t regularly threaten to pull him out of school if he failed to live up to expectations.

Nathalie knocked on his door and poked her head in a moment later.“Your breakfast will be served in twenty minutes,” she said.“Do you have any questions about your schedule?”

“Am I coming home in-between the shoot and fencing?” Adrien asked.

“It’s a bit cloudy, the shoot may run over,” Nathalie said.“Have your equipment ready to go.”

“Alright,” Adrien said.He almost let her go but asked at the last moment, “Did Father say anything about rescheduling when he got back this morning?”

“No,” Nathalie said.“I will ask him.”

“No,” Adrien said.“Don’t bother… I mean, don’t bother him with it.”

Nathalie left without another word.With twenty minutes to kill, Adrien went to see if any of his stories had updated; updates were better than the cold feeling in his chest.Disappointed once more, Adrien went to the search bar, entered the real-person fanfiction category and put in the Chatrien ship and the tag ‘coming out.’He’d read a few already, but he wanted some more perspectives.

* * *

Alya’s interview with Chat didn’t go up until the following evening.It was a short interview but Alya had wanted to post it as a podcast.The roughly two minutes of the interview were bookended with a longer interview she somehow managed with a local PI discussing how the police _might_ be trying to track down Hawkmoth at the beginning, and ended with a discussion with an older student from school who ran the queer students’ alliance to discuss both Chat’s coming out and his comments about the ‘friendzone.’

“Did you listen to it?” Alya asked.Marinette could hear the terror twins running around in the background of the call.

“Of course I listened to it,” Marinette said, her attention split between Alya and the invisible stitch she was doing for the seams of Adrien’s silk nightshirt.“Mom and Dad were thrilled that the bakery got a shout out.I liked your conversation with Sarah at the end.”

“Which part?” Alya asked.

The part where Sarah had said that figuring things out was a journey people took at their own pace.“All of it,” Marinette said.“What’s the response online?”

“Good,” Alya said.“Mostly good.I got a call from Nadja Chamack, so the story’s getting picked up by the mainstream.”

“ _Mostly_ good?” Marinette asked.

“You know internet comments,” Alya said.

Marinette didn’t like the idea of people saying bad things about Chat online, or anywhere rather.They talked about the podcast for a while longer before the conversation turned towards Marinette’s lack of a love life.

“Nino said Adrien had a shoot this morning,” Alya said.

“Really? Where?” Marinette asked.

“The steps of Sacre-Coeur Basilica,” Alya said.“Really early this morning.”

Marinette and Kagami had gone there when they were exploring Montmartre the week prior.Marinette had taken a selfie scrunched up tight next to Kagami on those steps with the cathedral in the background.She pulled up the picture on her phone. 

“Earth to Marinette!” Alya called out.

“Oh, sorry,” Marinette said.“What were you saying?” She was a disaster.

“I said I was surprised you hadn’t already heard about it from his fan-site,” Alya said.

“Oh,” Marinette said.“I haven’t been on there for a while.”Not at all since the time she’d helped Adrien hide from a group of rabid fans chasing him around Paris on the anniversary of his mother’s disappearance.Still, though, she gave into temptation and pulled up the website.Front and center was Adrien in a tuxedo.Spring dances were just around the corner and the Agreste brand was ready for it.The picture was clearly taken by an amateur and clicking on it revealed more.She really wished the professional ones were posted because she was having trouble seeing the details of the cut.There were pictures of Adrien with his arm around the waist of another model in a dress, Adrien with a group of guys in matching but different colored tuxes, and pictures of Adrien alone.In a couple of them his usually carefree aesthetic was replaced with something more reserved, sad maybe.Faces he probably didn’t have on when the professional’s camera was shooting.It looked good though, the combination of the pose and the tuxedo and the background, it told a different story than a group of students off to a night of fun.

Marinette held up her end of the conversation while she scanned through the homepage.A photoshoot, followed by fencing, followed by a lunch function for some charity Adrien’s father was involved in, followed by a trip to the Agreste headquarters building that ended late.

“So how often does Chat Noir come by to visit?” Alya asked.

“Whenever he’s looking for pastries, I’m sure,” Marinette said.

“I don’t know,” Alya said.“I think there’s more pastries downstairs.”

“Please don’t write on your blog that I’m secretly Chat Noir’s girlfriend, I don’t need Akumas coming around to take me hostage.”

“I’ve got you girl,” Alya said.“You’re not though, right?”

“I’m not dating Chat Noir,” Marinette said.

“And you’re sure he doesn’t want you to be?” Alya asked.

“Oh that’s just what I need,” Marinette said.Or that was just the last thing Chat needed, unrequited love with Ladybug, competing with Marinette for Adrien’s heart, and maybe also developing feelings for Marinette as well.If she ever did wind up with Adrien, Chat Noir was going to be crushed.

“I need to set him up with someone,” Marinette said.

“I mean, I ship him with Ladybug,” Alya said.

“But Ladybug doesn’t ship him with Ladybug,” Marinette said. 

“So how do you set a super hero up with someone?” Alya asked.

Marinette sighed. 

...

Did the team need a new super hero? 

That was a stupid idea.Master Fu trusted her to make wise decisions with the Miraculous, and a relationship between two people hiding their true identities was never going to work.

“You’re sure you don’t have a thing for him?”

“Where’s this coming from?”

“You were pretty sassy with him last night,” Alya said.“It was almost flirtatious.”

“It was not,” Marinette said.“Besides, if I liked him I’d probably be about as useless as I am around Adrien.”

“I don’t know, girl, I’ve never seen you act that way around anyone else,” Alya said.

“And what even did I say that was sassy?”

“It was less about what you said and more about how you said it.”

Had she been?She tried to be careful when Chat Noir was around when she was Marinette.She couldn’t say that Chat Noir was the goofball she swung around Paris with regularly and that he needed plenty of sass to function properly. 

“I think you’re seeing things,” Marinette said.“How are things with Nino?” She asked to change the subject.

“He just asked me to Spring Formal,” Alya said.

“I would have been very surprised if your boyfriend didn’t ask you to the Spring Formal,” Marinette said.

“He was very romantic about it,” Alya said. 

Marinette had known Nino since they’d been tiny and had a hard time imagining the boy who had poured soup from his lunch thermos over his own head being romantic. 

“You should ask Adrien,” Alya said.

“I can’t just ask him,” Marinette said.

“He’s not going to stay single forever,” Alya said.“And chances he’ll stay single through the end of the dance are probably slim.”

More pressure probably wasn’t what she needed, but wasn’t that why she had worked so hard to talk to him like a normal person?So she could tell him how she felt?

“I’ll do it,” Marinette said.

* * *

“Okay, nope, stop, just stop,” Plagg flew out of his gym bag, looking a little irate.“Why are you practicing Chopin?” Plagg asked.

“Weren’t you napping?” Adrien asked.

“You keep starting and stopping, it’s jarring,” Plagg said.“Go back to that other one.”

“Cotton Mill Blues is jarring,” Adrien asked.

“In a good way,” Plagg said.“Besides, you liked it.”

“It’s what Father’s going to want to hear,” Adrien said, pretending that just mentioning his father didn’t hurt.“And this song’s good too.”

“But which one do you want to play?” Plagg asked.

“Whichever one keeps him happy so he’ll let me do things I want to do,” Adrien said.

“When’s he ever been happy?” Plagg asked.

“When Mom was here,” Adrien muttered.

“So what makes you think playing Chopin is going to make him happy?”

“Fine,” Adrien said.“It won’t make him happy.I’m not… Maybe I can’t make him happy.Maybe I won’t ever be whatever he wants me to be. That doesn’t mean I can afford to make him mad.”

“No one can be what he wants you to be,” Plagg said.“You know that, right?”

“I… yeah,” Adrien said.“I just…” When his mother had disappeared, Adrien had wanted so badly to make Father happy again.That was it.He’d held himself together so his father wouldn’t have to worry about him.Then after a while he kept thinking Mom would come back some day and leave when she saw how broken her family was.He’d always failed.He’d dreamed about his mother coming back, but after so long, he knew she wasn’t.He’d tried to replace that light in his father’s eyes, but had never measured up to the radiance his mother had taken with her.He’d put _everything_ into meeting his father’s vision for who Adrien should be that he still didn’t know who he was supposed to be.

“Aw, kid, that was supposed to make you feel better,” Plagg said.

Adrien had started sobbing with an intensity he hadn’t felt since he had still been small enough to be carried in his mother’s arms.Plagg settled on top of his head and spread out in his hair.It was the worst time for the Akuma notification to go off on his phone, or maybe it was the best time.Adrien forced himself to stop.He stood up, out of breath.

“Come on kid, give it a moment,” Plagg said.

“I’m good,” Adrien said.“Ladybug needs me.”He had to protect her. If he ever gave up every duty he had, to his father, and the company, and his own life, that was the one thing he would never give up.Of course he was ready to go.He would get to see her, and she would smile at him, and she would want him around, and that would be enough.

“Plagg, Claws Out!”

Adrien raced across the rooftops of Paris, hoping as he always did that he would arrive first, so he could scope things out before Ladybug arrived.As was usual though, he was too slow and he watched Ladybug narrowly avoid the Akuma’s outstretched hand as he arrived.Adrien swung down his baton, forcing the Akuma back, and Adrien jumped back to another rooftop to convene with Ladybug.

“What have we got?” Adrien asked, keeping an eye on the scene.

“Mister Right, a dissatisfied customer,” Ladybug informed him, disdain dripping in her voice.“Turns everyone he touches into his servant.”

Touch based powers, better than a lot of Akumas, but if he was making an army of ‘servants,’ things could get complicated quickly.Adrien could be turned against Ladybug and there might be a number of squishy civilians trying to get into the fight.

“Follow my lead,” Ladybug said.

“Always, my lady,” Adrien said.

* * *

“Pound it,” Marinette said, her arm out for a fist bump.

“Not as bad as I thought it would be,” Chat said

“Sure,” Marinette said.“But that was worse than friend zone guy.”

“What?” Chat said.“Friend zone guy was absolutely clawfull.”

His usual swagger seemed forced.

“You’ve obviously never worked with customers,” Marinette said.

“I take it you listened to the Ladyblogger’s podcast,” Adrien said.

“It was great,” Marinette said.“I think it’s wonderful you came out, and thanks for not talking about the investigation.”

“Aw, you think I’m the cat’s meow.”

“I think you’re the cat’s caterwaul,” Marinette said, tapping him on the nose, hoping to see his playful side.Chat just smirked at her.Her miraculous gave it’s first warning, shortly before his did.It was never fair that they couldn’t ever really decompress with one another after a fight. “I should go.”She couldn’t help but to see Chat wilt a little.She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, his eyes went wide.“Bye.”She didn’t look back, but she could imagine him watching her retreat with a hand over the offending kiss.

“Why did I do that?” Marinette asked herself.She had wanted him to perk up and be her cocksure Chat Noir.He was lonely, she knew that now.She knew that he was probably going home to a cold house.She knew he had some trouble with his father and an absent mother, and she had heard the lie the night before when he had said that his parents were expecting him, the sadness of it.It was the lie he wanted to be the truth.She couldn’t really do anything about it though; not while still maintaining their secret identities.

She stopped before she got home and found a corner of a rooftop that didn’t get anything from the glow of the streetlights and dropped her transformation.She pulled a cookie out of her purse for Tiki.

“How’s the fight going?” Tiki asked.

“It’s over,” Marinette said.“But there’s something I need to do.”

Tiki didn’t really approve of using the Miraculous for personal reasons, but she didn’t say anything.She ate her cookie and Marinette became Ladybug again.She couldn’t help Chat tonight, but maybe there was one boy she could.

Adrien’s curtains were drawn, but Marinette could see a sliver of light that told her he was in.She alighted on the ledge and tapped on the windowpane. The curtain pulled away and there was Adrien, surprised, of course, to see her.He quickly opened the window.

“Ladybug,” he said.“I saw the Akuma alert earlier, is everything okay?”

“Yes,” Marinette said.“Already taken care of.I was just wondering though, if you still wanted to play video games?”

There was the smile that never made it into photoshoots.

“Of course,” Adrien said.“Come in.Can I get you some water?”

“I’d love some,” Marinette said, climbing through the window.She avoided looking at his computer monitor.“I’m not going to get you in trouble, am I?”

“Nathalie should have gone home by now, so no one should interrupt us,” Adrien said, walking back with a bottle of Perrier.“Pick whatever game you want.”

Marinette initially dismissed playing Mecha Strike, too competitive, but as much as she was there to keep Adrien company, she was worried about loosing her forward footing and becoming a mess.She was good at Mecha Strike, better than Adrien, and even as Ladybug, she needed the confidence boost.She pulled the game off the very full shelf of video games.

“Good choice,” Adrien said, standing right next to her now.In the light of the room she could see that his eyes were red and puffy.He handed her the water and she handed him the game to get set up.She sipped on the water while Adrien turned on the system.She had no idea if she was supposed to say anything.He’d been crying, was she supposed to ask him if he was alright or did she avoid calling attention to it?

It was easy to talk about video games.Easy to talk about the Miraculous movie that he had VA’d for.Easy to talk about events in Paris.Marinette didn’t know if she should try to talk about more personal things.It wasn’t like Adrien knew Ladybug outside of a few tense encounters during Akuma attacks… and the last time she’d been in his room.

“Did you see that new podcast the Ladyblogg posted?” Marinette asked.

“Oh,” Adrien said.“I saw that it posted, and some comments on instagram, but I haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet.”

“Busy day?” Marinette asked.

“Something like that,” Adrien said.“But I can’t complain.”

“You can, you know, I won’t tell,” Marinette said.

Adrien laughed nervously, and Marinette let the clash of the game fill the silence.

“I guess it would have been nice to have a moment for myself today,” Adrien said.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Marinette said.“I shouldn’t have just shown up like this.”

“No,” Adrien was quick to say.“I’m glad you did.I just meant, time for stuff I wanted to do.Like play video games with a friend.”

“Then I’m glad I stopped by,” Marinette said.

Marinette didn’t let Adrien tacitly calling her a friend stop her from ripping the head off of his mech.Adrien laughed and she let him choose the next battle map.

“Do you enjoy modeling?” Marinette asked.

“Of course,” Adrien said brightly.“It’s so great to be able to showcase the talent my father has cultivated.”A pause.“Oh my god, that was a press answer.Why am I even… Umm, I don’t know.Some of it, sure.”

“What don’t you like?” Marinette asked, knowing they were really getting into personal territory.

“The hours,” Adrien said.“The hurry up and wait.The lack of personal boundaries… People are always touching me.Not in a bad way, but no one ever asks or tells me what they’re going to do, they’re just repositioning me or attacking me with a lint roller.Talking about my appearance like I’m not even there. 

“I do mean it about the talent though.When someone’s really created something cool, it’s awesome to help bring it to life, there’s some really passionate people in the industry, and they throw so much of themselves into what they do.I have this friend who’s the same.She makes incredible things.She did this derby hat for a student competition my father sponsored and I got to model it when she won and that was really cool, because I wanted to be the best I could be for her work.”

If she hadn’t been so concerned over everything else he had said, all the confidence she’d had talking to him would have disappeared when he started complimenting her without really knowing it was her he was talking about.

“I’m sorry they treat you like that,” Marinette said.

Adrien shrugged.“It’s all about time.Everything’s rushed even though it still takes forever.People get paid by the hour and then natural lighting is perfect for only so long, or a location is only available for so long.I think a lot of things would be better if we treated it like a collaborative art project and not an ER at the hospital.”

“You’ll have to start your own modeling company,” Marinette said.“Do things right.”

“As if I could,” Adrien said.

“I think you could,” Marinette said.

This distracted Adrien, which Marinette took advantage of ruthlessly.It was true though.Adrien had been raised in the industry, had a ton of contacts, and had been receiving business lessons for years.His father had been grooming him to take over the Agreste line from the beginning.

“You don’t think your father would approve?” Marinette asked.

“I think he approves of the way things are done now,” Adrien said.“Do you like being a superhero?”

“Well, I don’t love that Paris needs superheroes,” Marinette said.Her own press answer.“I hated it at first.I couldn’t fathom why anyone thought I should be one.Chat Noir always had faith in me, though, and I love helping people, and… I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.I love being Ladybug.I love leaping across rooftops and solving problems, and… inspiring people.”

She sounded full of herself.

“Well you inspire me,” Adrien said. 

There went her confidence and Marinette had to focus on wrecking his mech for a bit.

“Chat Noir’s inspiring people,” Marinette said.“I think it’ll help people, what he said.”

“I wish I could do that,” Adrien said.

“I’m sure there’s plenty of people you inspire,” Marinette said.

“No,” Adrien said.“Come out, publicly.”

“Oh,” Marinette said.It wasn’t as if she hadn’t already been given reason to think he liked guys.Though he hadn’t said what he would be coming out as.“I thought Agreste brand had openly queer models.”

“Yeah sure, I worked with one today.I didn’t even feel like I could talk to him about it.The other queer models aren’t the face of the company,” Adrien said.“I don’t know, I probably could, but it would… I would have to get approval.There’d be a press strategy, things I could or couldn’t say, probably a discussion on how it affected my personal brand management.Timing it right.”

“That’s not fair to you,” Marinette said. 

“It’s… No, it’s not,” Adrien agreed.“I’ll work it out though.I just… I’ve been told over and over to be careful what I tell people.You never know what’s going to wind up in some tabloid.I haven’t even told my best friend at school.”

But he was telling her.Was it because she was Ladybug, or had all of this just been waiting to get off his chest.

“Do you think he’d tell the tabloids?”

“No, of course not,” Adrien said after a moment.“Which is why I should just do it.”

Adrien seemed happier as they kept playing for a while.

“How did you know for sure?” Marinette asked.

Adrien seemed to consider it for a moment.“I guess everything just started making more sense when I really started thinking about it.I’d always sort of assumed I’d be straight, but there was sort of this guy and… I started wondering and then I sort of said it out loud and then it sort of started clicking for me, like watching a mystery but only realizing all the clues you missed at the end.”

That didn’t really sound like how Marinette felt, but then it probably wasn’t something that was supposed to be universal.

“So would you have to get approval to ask this guy out?” Marinette asked.

“Probably, but, um, he’s not exactly available,” Adrien said.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette said.

“It’s fine,” Adrien said.“It’s not like I wanted to come out to my dad and tell him I had a boyfriend at the same time.I don’t even know what he…”

“Your worried he’d be upset outside of the whole business side of things?” Marinette asked.

“Maybe,” Adrien said.“It’s not like he’s ever talked about any of that stuff with me, if he’s ever said anything about it to anyone it was probably a canned statement about diversity in the company.”

“Maybe you could bring it up casually,” Marinette said.“Test the waters.”

“Sure,” Adrien said.“Next time I can schedule time with him.” 

“Adrien, that’s-“

“What about you? I’m guessing your school has a Spring Formal just around the corner.”

Yes, but Marinette didn’t know if Adrien even liked girls.She let him change the subject.“There’s a guy I’m going to ask out,” Marinette said.Or she’d told Alya she would at least.Maybe she would ask out Kagami if Adrien turned her down; but was it alright to ask her out if she wasn’t even sure?She thought about taking Kagami and holding her hand like they had when they had walked through Montmartre together, and dancing together.

“O-oh,” Adrien said.“Is this a casual thing or is this guy special?”

“He’s pretty special,” Marinette said.“He’s also probably going to say no.”

“He’d have to be an idiot to say no to Ladybug,” Adrien said.

“Well, he doesn’t know I’m Ladybug,” Marinette said.“I suppose asking someone out on a date would be easier if I could do it as Ladybug, but actually dating as Ladybug would never work.”

“You don’t think it could?” Adrien asked.

“Not with secret identities and keeping people safe,” Marinette said. 

“Hah, yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Adrien seemed sad for her for some reason.“Still, whoever you are under the mask, you’re definitely awesome enough to get this guy’s attention.”

“I think I might disappoint you,” Marinette said.

“I don’t believe it for a second,” Adrien said earnestly.

“What about you?” Marinette asked, staring back at the screen and trying to get the ghosts of his piercing green eyes out of her head.“Does Spring Formal fit into your schedule?”

“For now, at least,” Adrien said.“I’d sort of assumed I’d get told I’d be taking my friend Kagami to the dance, um, she’s sort of like an approved friend, my dad’s got some weird business thing with her mom, not that she isn’t really a friend, but anyway, she’s going to be traveling so I’m going to assume I can ask someone out.”

So much for maybe asking Kagami.She already knew that Adrien and Kagami were sort of being pushed at one another, but she hadn’t expected that they might just be told to go on a date together.“Please tell me you’re not in an arranged marriage,” Marinette said.

“I’m pretty sure I’m not,” Adrien said.“Though I’m not sure they’d tell me if I were, I might just show up to a photoshoot someday in a tuxedo and find I’ve arrived at my own wedding.”

Marinette could only stare at him for a moment. 

“I’m just kidding,” Adrien said, after he killed her mech.“I think.Seriously, the worst I’m expecting is strong suggestions for who I should be dating and interference if I’m dating someone he doesn’t approve of.”

“What’s the best you’re expecting?” Marinette asked.

Adrien laughed a bit hollowly.“Maybe I should have said that’s the only thing I’m expecting.”

“Well, for your sake, I hope they don’t try to make you take a girl to the dance,” Marinette said.

“Well I’m hoping they don’t interfere in the dance at all, but, I mean, I wouldn’t mind taking a girl.Oh, right, um, I like both.”

“Oh,” Marinette said.“So I guess Chat Noir’s interview was particularly relevant to you.”

Adrien blushed.“Hah, yeah, I guess it was.I’m sure everyone was more interested in the Akuma stuff though.”

“I wish we had more to tell people,” Marinette said.She wished they had a single lead to work with.It had seemed so simple in the beginning when they’d tried chasing after purified butterflies.

“Hey, what are you doing,” Marinette said.“Get back here.”

“Um, you just got a ridiculous power up,” Adrien said.“I’m running away.If you’re going to rip my mechanical heart out, it can wait until we’re on the same level.”

“Running away, huh,” Marinette said.“I bet you didn’t know there’s a launch pad hidden on this level.”

“What?” Adrien said.

The round ended a moment later when Marinette’s mech fell out of the sky on top of Adrien’s.

“There’s no running from me, mister,” Marinette said. 

Adrien chuckled, a delightful sound, but Marinette wasn’t paying attention.What if they were running away?

“I guess we both have school tomorrow,” Marinette said.

“I guess so,” Adrien said.“Thanks for coming by.”

“I had fun,” Marinette said, getting up.“We’ll have to do this again some time.”

“I’d like that,” Adrien said.He followed her to the window.She was tempted to kiss him on the cheek, but she’d literally just done that to Chat, and then what, ask him out as Marinette the next day? 

Adrien looked like he was girding himself to say something but all he said was, “Have a good night, Ladybug.”

“You too, Adrien,” Marinette said, before she leapt out of his window.

* * *

Adrien watched her go until she disappeared into the night.For just a moment before she left, he’d thought he was going to kiss her, there’d been a charge in the air.Of course that wasn’t ever going to happen.Ladybug wasn’t going to date him as Ladybug and she wasn’t going to tell him her secret identity, whether he was Chat Noir or Adrien. 

He found Plagg snoozing in his gym bag and picked him up and carried him with him to sprawl out on his bed.He let Plagg sit a moment on his chest before waking him up.

“Are you waking me up for food?”

“I think I’m going to ask Luka to the dance,” Adrien said. 

“You woke me up for this?” Plagg asked.

Adrien scratched him between the ears, which seemed to mollify Plagg just a bit. 

“Didn’t you say your Dad would kill you if you did something like that?” Plagg asked.

“Yes,” Adrien said.

“And isn’t your whole goal right now to just maximize your time with your friends?”

“That’s the thing,” Adrien said.“He can’t do anything without making it a public statement that he’s definitely not going to want to make.”

“You don’t think it’s weird, getting a boyfriend just to make a statement?” Plagg asked.

“I’m not getting a boyfriend,” Adrien said.“It’s a date, a semi-public date with a boy.No announcements on social media or talking to the press.Just a date, and if he punishes me for going on a date with a boy, that would look terrible for the company.”

“You know, kid, if all he cares about is the company’s image, that gives you a ton of leverage,” Plagg said.

“I know,” Adrien said, with a bit of nervous energy in his gut.He didn’t want to use leverage, he just wanted to do what he wanted, and maybe he wanted to dance with a boy without worrying about if that fit in with his personal brand, or how they were going to manage his coming out, or what he was allowed to say publicly. 

“So you’re doing this?” Plagg asked.

“I’m doing this,” Adrien said.He picked up his phone and pressed the call button.It rang and Adrien’s nervous energy mounted each time the phone rang until…

“How’s our masked pianist?” Luka asked.That’s what they’d called him from the beginning.He was the reason Kitty Section wore masks on stage, since Adrien couldn’t perform publicly.Marinette of course had given them a unique style that everyone loved.The thought of Marinette though almost had Adrien backing out, but he wasn’t ready to deal with that anyway, he didn’t think.

“Luka,” Adrien said.“Hi, how’s your weekend?”

“Good, good,” Luka said.“Mom got a gig up the Seine last night so we took the boat up there.It was a good crowd.”

“That’s cool,” Adrien said.There were so many butterflies in his stomach, Hawkmoth could set up shop.“Um, hey Luka, shot in the dark, but I was wondering if you wanted to go to Spring Formal with me.”

“Oh, sorry Adrien, I’m pretty solidly in the girls camp here,” Luka said. 

“Oh,” Adrien said, trying to stay casual.“Had to try I guess.I got my hopes up since you were involved with the queer students’ alliance at school.”It wasn’t as though he had some deep feelings for Luka in the first place.

“Yeah, I’m there to support Juleka,” Luka said, which was something Adrien should have considered.“We’re good though, right?”

“Of course,” Adrien said.It wasn’t horribly disappointing.Luka was being cool about it so it wasn’t humiliating either.“Like I said, it was a shot in the dark.I’ll see you at practice?”

“You bet, good luck finding a date, and hey, you should stop by the club sometime,” Luka said.

“Yeah,” Adrien said.“I should.Have a good night.”He’d just have to get permission to eat lunch at school first.He hung up.

“Well Plagg, I’m zero for two,” Adrien said. 

“Are you giving up on Ladybug?” Plagg asked.

Could he?He still wanted to be with her; he could still dream, couldn’t he?“Were you listening earlier?” Adrien asked.

“Please, I started napping the moment she got here,” Plagg said.“As if I wanted to pay attention to your date.”

“Well it wasn’t a date, and Ladybug specifically said she couldn’t date as Ladybug,” Adrien said.“The only way I could ever date her was if I accidentally asked her out without knowing it.So, maybe its time to move on, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up though.”

“Well, if you’re ready to start dating, I’ve got a suggestion,” Plagg said.“Okay, now don’t say ‘no’ out of hand, but I know a guy.”Adrien threw a pillow at him.“He’s a bit too much into leather, but I’ve heard he’s pretty athletic.”

“I’m sure Ladybugg never has to deal with this sort of stuff from her Kwami.”

“I’m sure she hasn’t,” Plagg said.“Sugarcube doesn’t have a sense of humor.”

“Not since the dinosaurs?” Adrien asked.

“Nah, it was Atlantis she was really cross about,” Plagg said.

“Oh my god, Plagg.” Adrien really really didn’t want to know.

“I mean, yes,” Plagg said smugly. 

Adrien was saved from contemplating the fact that he kept a tiny little god of destruction in his pocket by the Akuma alert going off on his phone, twice in one evening, Hawkmoth was making up for the previous few days of silence.

“Wait, no, it’s dinner time,” Plagg said. 

“Not anymore,” Adrien said.“Plagg, Claws Out!”

“Oh, come on,” Plagg said as he zipped into Adrien’s Miraculous.

This one wasn’t so easy, it went on for a while and then Adrien may or may not have died; he wasn’t sure.It had gone on so long, and the Akuma had been so violent, Ladybug had gone off to recruit one of the auxiliaries while Adrien focused only on distracting the Akuma away from civilians.When Ladybug returned with Carapace, the shield hero was able to focus on keeping civilians safe while Adrian and Ladybug focused on the Akuma. 

Whatever happened to Adrien, it happened fast.He remembered shielding Ladybug from the Akuma and then the next thing he knew, there was a wash of ladybugs and everything was over.Ladybug was certainly cross with him like he might have just died.

“I’m going to yell at you Tuesday night!” Ladybug called back at him.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Adrien called back.“Where are you going?”

“I’ll explain later,” she was already distant enough that only his cat’s ears picked her up.She’d looked like she was chasing after the butterfly, but that had been a bust from the beginning.

“Dude,” Carapace said.

Adrien turned around to find Carapace staring at him.Was he staring at him like Adrien had just died?He was standing next to a guy who was probably the Akuma victim. 

“You alright?” Adrien asked.

“Are YOU alright?” Carapace countered.

“Yeah,” Adrien said.It was best to just not think about these things.“My lady always puts me back together again.”Adrien checked his staff.That had gone on for a bit after he had gone out, he thought.“Sorry we kept you up.”

“Do I give my miraculous back to you?” Carapace asked.

Adrien didn’t know Carapace’s identity or where the Guardian was hiding out, and wouldn’t know what to do with his miraculous short of holding onto it until he saw Ladybug next time.Adrien motioned Carapace away from the Akuma victim.

“Take it home with you,” Adrien said a bit quietly.“Ladybug will come for it later.Do you know what your Kwami eats?”

“Veggies,” Carapace said.“You’re sure you’re alright?”

“Of course,” Adrien said, trying not to think of the Akuma’s magic hammer flying at him.He should have Cataclysm’d it instead of trying to knock it away with his staff.

“He tried to take your miraculous afterwards,” Carapace said.“I shielded you while…”

“While Ladybug handled the Akuma by herself,” Adrien said.“Thanks, but next time, you can shield me by keeping the Akuma busy so Ladybug can finish things.”

“You detransformed,” Carapace said. 

That sent a spike of anxiety through Adrien. 

“Did anyone see?!”

“Not through my shield,” Carapace said.

“Did you recognize me?” No chance he wouldn’t.

Carapace wouldn’t look him in the eyes as he shook his head.What would Ladybug do if she found out? What about the Guardian? No one was supposed to know.

“I should have been shielding you guys from the beginning,” Carapace said, even as his bracelet gave a warning. 

“You were shielding the people you were supposed to be shielding,” Adrien said.“Don’t worry about it.Worry about getting home before the transformation wears off.I’ll handle this guy right here.”

Carapace nodded at him, still looking upset.Adrien sure wasn’t going to ask what had happened after he’d gotten hit.Carapace took off and Adrien approached the Akuma victim.

“Rough night?” Adrien asked.

“Yeah,” the guy said.“Was I…”

“Yeah, but it’s cool.Are we anywhere near your home?”

The guy shook his head.“I was at work.There’s a deadline coming up and we’ve been pulling double shifts.”

Adrien gave the guy a lift to his job, a machinists shop, and headed home. 

“Kid,” was all Plagg said when Adrien released the transformation, he flew over and nestled on the crook of Adrien’s neck.

“I know,” Adrien said, already pulling out some cheese for Plagg.He looked in his fridge.There was a chocolate bar in there, something he had gotten for himself.Something he hadn’t yet touched.He thought about eating some.He thought he should get something on a night like the one he had just had.It wasn’t like he should care about a few extra calories when Father didn’t even care to join him for dinner.Why hadn’t he used Cataclysm? He left it untouched.It wasn’t like he had earned it.

“Carapace saw me,” Adrien said.

“I know,” Plagg said.“What do you think happened to me when you died?”

Adrien winced.He hadn’t used Cataclysm so he figured there would only be the one reason for him to detransform.

“I talked to him,” Plagg said.“He won’t say anything to anyone.”

“Tell me you didn’t threaten him,” Adrien said.

“Fine, I didn’t threaten him,” Plagg said.

“What would the Guardian do?” Adrien asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Plagg said.

“Plagg.”

“The Guardian’s been making everything up as he goes along,” Plagg said.“He was years younger than you when he became the last of his order.I don’t know what he’d do, but I know that you’re my chosen.”

“Didn’t he choose me?” Adrien asked.

“Well, now I have too,” Plagg said.

“I messed up,” Adrien said.

“Did you protect Ladybug?” Plagg asked.

“I could have protected her better,” Adrien said.Why hadn’t he used Cataclysm?He only had one shot with it, but that was his best shot right there.

“Next time you will,” Plagg said.“Now go back there and eat some chocolate.”

Adrien ate some chocolate.

He barely pulled himself through getting ready for bed.Hawkmoth might be trying to actively cause them to loose sleep.They’d just have to hope he was as ready as they were to get some sleep.

An hour later, the Akuma alert went off on his phone.

* * *

Nino had gotten the third Akuma notification of the night, but Ladybug had already come and collected his Miraculous, and Nino had had to just wait for news of the all clear.Adrien had been out there.Adrien had always been out there fighting Akumas.Adrien had died.He had died and then a couple hours later he’d gone back out to fight another Akuma.Nino should have been there to watch his back.Nino didn’t get back to sleep that night, and he wondered if Adrien ever did.He made sure to bring in a coffee for him.That wasn’t going to look suspicious, was it?Knowing that Adrien hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before.

Of course Adrien was early.

“They messed up my order dude,” Nino said.“Do you want the first one they made me?”

Adrien looked at the cup with tired but almost suspicious eyes.“What’s in it?” he asked.

“It’s a skinny with Splenda?”

“How’s it messed up?” Adrien asked.

“I asked for oat milk,” Nino said.

“You’re not drinking milk?” Adrien asked.

“I’m trying some stuff out,” Nino said.“I’m trying to get into shape.”

Wayzz had told him that his physical strength as a human didn’t affect his strength when he was transformed, but being in shape helped him train when he didn’t have a miraculous to use, and the parkour Alya had gotten him into was an extreme workout.

Adrien took a sip.“What about the caffeine?”

“It’s just regular coffee,” Nino said. 

This seemed to mollify Adrien.

“Thanks, you have no idea how much I needed this today.”

Nino definitely had an idea.

“Be careful with artificial sweeteners though, they make you hungrier,” Adrien said.

“All of them?”

“Mmm, you taste sweet and release insulin, but there’s no sugar, so your blood sugar goes down and your body wants to fix that.”

Nino wasn’t actually avoiding sugars too much, but he’d figured Adrien would be more likely to drink it if it wasn’t full of sugar and cream.

“Good to know,” Nino said.

He looked Adrien over as if the signs of his caved in chest from the night before would be visible. 

“Hey Nino,” Adrien said.“Can I tell you something?”

Was he going to tell him he was Chat Noir???He hadn’t seemed all that upset last night, but maybe it really had gotten to him and he just wasn’t willing to show it in front of Carapace.They weren’t the only ones in the classroom; Kim was plenty loud in the back, but this probably wasn’t the place for discussing secrets.

“Anything,” Nino said.“Here though?”

Adrien hesitated but then shrugged.He still kept his voice down.

“I asked someone to the dance last night,” Adrien said.

Nino gave a surprised laugh.Adrien had died the night before, he was one of the principal heroes of Paris, but he still had normal stuff to worry about.Alya would have probably blown up his phone if it had been Marinette.He wasn’t going to look disappointed for Adrien though.

“Oh yeah, that’s great bro, who are you taking?”

“Well, no one, so far,” Adrien said.“Um, he wasn’t interested in guys.”

“Oh, hey dude that’s awesome.I mean, not that he said no.Not that there’s anything wrong with him saying no, but you know, that it’s a guy, that’s totally cool.”

“Thanks,” Adrien said, he didn’t look totally down about having been rejected. 

“Plenty of dudes in the ocean,” Nino said.

“That’s not the right phrase,” Adrien said.“But girls too.”

“Oh, right on,” Nino said.“Any ideas who else you might ask?”It felt weird to be having a normal conversation with everything that had happened the night before.

“Still thinking about it,” Adrien said. 

“Hey, what about Marinette?” Nino asked, all casual like.

“Oh,” Adrien said.“I don’t know.I think she might have feelings for me.”

Nino had not thought that that was at all on Adrien’s radar.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Nino asked.

“What if I mess things up?” Adrien asked.“I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

“Just be honest with her dude,” Nino said.As honest as a secret superhero could be.At least he and Alya didn’t have to keep that from one another.

“Am I really the last person to know?” Adrien asked.

“Sorry dude, but yeah, Alya swore me to secrecy,” Nino said.“But also, you don’t have to ask her out if you don’t want to.”

Was this really the conversation they were having after Nino found out his best friend was Chat Noir?He was glad Adrien had come out to him (he hadn’t even thought about Chat Noir doing the same after he’d found out that Adrien was Chat Noir).He was glad Adrien finally realized Mari had a thing for him.All Nino could really think about though was the fact that he’d watched his best friend die the night before, that his best friend had been dealing with Akumas night and day for months.

“So what if I ask her out but I’m still hung up on Ladybug?” Adrien asked.

Of course he was hung up on Ladybug.He didn’t have a celebrity crush, he’d fallen in love with his superhero partner.He put his hand on Adrien’s shoulder, because Adrien was there and he was alive.

“Maybe go to the dance together, and if you don’t want to take it further, then just tell her,” Nino said.“It’s better than you letting her keep wondering if she has a chance.What were you going to do if you didn’t instantly fall in love with this guy you asked out?”

“Well, I wasn’t worried he had feelings for me already,” Adrien said.“Hey, so, remember when I asked you if people thought my life was messed up?”

Wherever he was going with that, Nino didn’t find out, because Adrien suddenly straightened up when Marinette came in, looking dead on her feet but carrying three parcels that she placed before Adrien.

“Are these…?”

“I finished these last night,” Marinette said.

“I wasn’t expecting these so soon,” Adrien said.“You didn’t need to pull an all-nighter.”

“Something else was already keeping me up,” Marinette said.“I like to work while I work.”

Adrien started attacking the packaging and the first thing out was a hoodie sweater that he threw on while shouting, “No pictures!” to the rest of the class.It looked good on him, and Nino could have smacked himself in the forehead because Adrien was wearing his own merch, had commissioned his own merch.It looked good on him though, and the goofy smile he wore as he ran his hands over the sleeves didn’t exactly scream Chat Noir. 

“Do you like it?” was Marinette’s timid response to Adrien’s obvious joy.

“It’s perfect,” Adrien said.He started tearing apart the other parcels to reveal pajamas with a cute Ladybug/Chat Noir theme.“I can’t wait to wear these tonight.”

“You mean you can’t wait to get some sleep,” Alya said.She’d come in with Marinette.

“That obvious?” Adrien asked.

“Don’t worry,” Alya said. “You pull off dead-on-your-feet very well.”

“She can’t tell,” Nino said.“She just saw the coffee.” 

“When you’re an investigative journalist like me, you need to notice the little things,” Alya said.Alya also looked a bit run down, and Nino supposed she’d been chasing Akumas for the Ladyblog the night before.Of course she always looked good to Nino, whether or not she had bags under her eyes.He hadn’t seen her while he was in the fight, but battles traveled across the city a lot faster than Alya could without a miraculous, and Alya had gotten better about not being right in the open while she watched battles.If she’d seen Adrien get hit the night before, Nino would have already heard about it from her.At least Adrien wouldn’t have to deal with that getting splashed around. 

“How much do I owe you?” Adrien asked.

“Nothing,” Marinette said.Alya elbowed her.“I mean, the invoice is right here.”She pulled an envelope out of her purse.Adrien looked inside real quick and pulled up PayPal on his phone.There was some admiration from the rest of their friends, but Adrien put everything away before class started.

Then he went through a normal morning at school.Being a part time superhero never felt real to him, especially when most of his life was mundane, especially when he couldn’t keep his best friend safe (from Akumas and an emotionally manipulative father both).He wondered how Adrien felt.He’d always had an out of the ordinary life.Carapace hardly ever got to properly interact with Chat Noir, and that would be the one and only time he’d actually be able to talk to him properly.Nino couldn’t go up to Adrien and ask him about being Chat Noir.

Nino tried to pull Adrien away when Lunch started but his driver was already waiting for him.Nino went out to lunch with Alya and Marinette and felt odd having this great big secret that both of them would be heavily invested in.Alya, of course, just wanted to talk about the three Akumas from the night prior.

“Are you okay?” Alya asked, after she’d run down her theories for the brief absence of Akumas followed by the rapid succession.

“I might have thought the sky was falling after three battles last night,” Nino said.

“Right?” Alya said. “You know, that second fight was a doozy, I heard Carapace was there.”She put her hand on his arm, but with Marinette there she wasn’t going to say anything else about it.“I hope the three of them are all alright after a night like that.”

“A night like that’s got to take a toll on someone,” Nino said.He wanted to just talk to someone about it, anyone.Marinette went back to the counter to order them coffees to go and Nino burst out with “Chat Noir died last night.”

“Oh,” Alya said.“But he’s-“

“He’s fine,” Nino said.“Miraculous Ladybug fixed him right up.”

“That couldn’t have been easy to see,” Alya said.

“It wasn’t,” Nino said.The damage some Akumas did was almost fanciful.The one from the night before had just left carnage in its wake.Bad enough seeing his hero like that, he’d puked when he’d seen his best friend dead in the street.“Off the record, right?”

“Oh- Sure, as long as no one sends me video or eye witness testimony,” Alya said.She still struggled to find a balance between keeping important secrets and reporting newsworthy facts.“How often do you think stuff like that happens?" 

“Too often,” Nino said.Once was more than enough.

“Remember that Akuma that turned people into statues?” Alya asked.

“That’s a horror show I’m not forgetting,” Nino said.People turned to stone, frozen in a moment of pain and fear.

“It’s not like there were a bunch of corpses lying around, but…”

“They might as well have been, if the Akuma had gotten Ladybug’s miraculous,” Nino said.“You fought in that one, didn’t you?”It had been before they both knew the other was on the team and could actually talk about it with one another.

“Yeah, he got in-between the Akuma and Ladybug,” Alya said.

“He needs to stop doing that,” Nino said.

“And let Ladybug get hit instead?”

“His life isn’t less important,” Nino said.

“I know,” Alya said.“But Ladybug’s the only one who can reverse what’s happened.”

“I still don’t like it,” Nino said.

“Did you get any sleep after that?” Alya asked.

Nino shook his head.“Afterwards he acted like it wasn’t a big deal.” That had been bothering him.Everyone seemed to think it was the way of things.So much had been bothering him after he got home.Ladybug had left the Akuma victim next to him, and Nino had never been angry with an Akuma victim before, except maybe Chloe, but Nino had hated that guy.It wasn’t right though.It was all on Hawkmoth, but even there, how could he let himself get angry about it.Could Hawkmoth Akumatize you if it’s him you want to destroy?Nino could have so easily become the third Akuma of the night, and after learning that Adrien was Chat Noir.Nino could NEVER let himself get that angry ever again.He almost felt bad just ruminating over it all.He had to feel guilty for feeling righteous anger.

Alya put a hand on his back, moving it up and down.“Why don’t you come over tonight?” Alya asked.“Mom doesn’t work Mondays.My big strong hero deserves a dinner cooked by a four star chef.”

“Assuming Hawkmoth doesn’t interrupt us,” Nino said.But he had to do whatever he could to stay cool, and it certainly wasn’t an onerous burden to spend an evening with his girl friend and one of the best Chefs in Paris.

Marinette returned with their coffees and they walked back to school.Besides being hung up on superhero secrets, he was also feeling a bit awkward because he was keeping the fact that Adrien knew Marinette liked him to himself.The bro code took precedent though.It wasn’t like it was the biggest secret he now carried for Adrien.

* * *

Nathalie finished reviewing his schedule for the evening while Adrien finished his lunch, nothing that wasn’t typical for a Monday after school; Mandarin lessons followed by a listen-in on the weekly briefing for the Agreste board, then homework with a tutor on standby if he needed help, dinner, and finally piano practice.Assuming an Akuma didn’t pop up and force him to make one of his tired excuses, he’d have eight o’ clock on for himself, assuming also that his homework was finished.

“Any questions?” Nathalie asked.

“More a suggestion,” Adrien said.“For efficiency.”

Nathalie nodded her head for him to go on.

“Well, I thought I could save my driver a trip,” Adrien said.“He could just drop off my lunch instead of taking me home and then taking me back to school every day.”

“It is easier for you to stay on your diet if you aren’t sitting around your peers who are eating junk.”

“I’m fourteen years old, I know I can handle a bit of temptation,” Adrien said in his most I-am-very-mature voice.“My nutritionist upped my calories my last visit because I weighed less than expected, which I think shows I’ve been able to avoid the snack table at shoots.”

“You’re under supervision at shoots,” Nathalie reminded him.“And it is your driver’s job to make those trips with you, he is not being inconvenienced or inefficient.”

“I hardly ever get time to spend with my friends,” Adrien said, appealing next to her sense of sympathy.His father would say that he had plenty of time for ‘peer activities,’ as it showed up on his schedule, but Nathalie at least had a sense for what was normal and had a chance of convincing Father.

“Perhaps your friends could join you for lunch,” Nathalie said.“Within reason, if your father approved.”

That wouldn’t let him attend meetings of the GSA, but it would at least be an improvement.

“Okay,” Adrien said.“I’d like that, but how about also, one day a week I can stay at school.Even if I… gave into temptation, which I wouldn’t, it would only be one day a week.Maybe Wednesday?”

Nathalie considered him for a moment.“I’ll talk to your father about it.”

“Thank you,” Adrien said.Father would care more about what Nathalie had to say than he would anything from Adrien.

“Though speaking of temptations,” Nathalie said.“Was there anything keeping you from following your sleep schedule last night?”

Like being Chat Noir? 

“I got three Akuma alerts last night,” Adrien said.“I guess I was a bit too worried to sleep well.”

“Your phone is supposed to be off at night,” Nathalie said.

“That rule was made before there were Akumas,” Adrien said.“How can I sleep if there could be an army of monkey ninjas just down the street?I feel safer knowing I’ll get the alert at least.”

Nathalie didn’t comment further, not condoning a rule being broken, but not actually doing anything about it either.

“I’ll ask the chef to send you back with a green tea, perhaps piano can be moved to tomorrow,” Nathalie said.

“Thank you,” Adrien said.

“I said perhaps,” Nathalie said.

“You’re the best, Nathalie,” Adrien said.

Nathalie sighed.“Your driver brought in some parcels.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said.“The items I had commissioned, Marinette brought them in this morning.”

“Yes,” Nathalie said.“I was notified of a sizable transaction.”

“Right,” Adrien said, and pulled out the invoice from his bag to give to Nathalie.She looked it over. 

“I’ll look the items over later.”

“I won’t be wearing it outside the house,” Adrien said.

“Your father expects you to make sound financial decisions,” Nathalie said.“I also noticed a few recent cash withdrawals.”

“Oh, yeah,” Adrien said.“Just some comic books someone at school had I couldn’t find online.”Cheese, it was all going to cheese.Well, except that one thing.

He went out while the gorilla pulled the car around.Plagg zoomed out of his chest and hovered near his ear.“So, is she going to find out about the Chatrien fan art you commissioned?”

Adrien gasped.“You were asleep,” he whispered back.

“Thought _you_ ,” Plagg said.

It had been a moment of temptation, none of the fan art he’d seen really conveyed what he felt when he was reading the fics, and one of the artists he liked had put out an Emergency Commission alert.He was supporting an artist! He’d pulled out cash just to buy a prepaid credit card so it couldn’t possibly be tied to him.

“It’s going to be very tasteful,” Adrien said.God, if Nathalie did find that though…

“Yeah?” Plagg asked.“You been looking at any of the distasteful ones for comparison?”

“No!” Adrien whisper shouted.“You should know that since apparently you’ve been spying on me.”

Plagg laughed but had to zoom back into Adrien’s chest when the car pulled around.There was a green tea waiting for him in the car, Adrien would just have to hope it would get him through the day.

He made it through the rest of his classes, taking decent notes, but figuring he might be relying on his tutor with homework later that night.Marinette had tried to talk to him after classes but a group from fencing had wanted to talk about the upcoming trip, that Adrien wasn’t attending, and when the Gorilla pulled up, Adrien could only say, “Everything was really great, thank you so much, I’ll try everything on tonight and let you know how it all fits.” 

Mandarin was an exercise in frustration, because he was definitely not doing great by that point, and if Nathalie wasn’t continually prodding him through the board meeting he would have definitely fallen asleep.Homework almost brought him to tears and he definitely wouldn’t have finished if his tutor hadn’t been helping him.

Piano had been moved to the following night’s free time, and after dinner, Adrien had just hopped into the shower, intent on just getting ready for bed and calling it a very early night, when the Akuma alert went off.Then there were frogs in the shower.Adrien dashed out and managed to trip himself up putting on his underwear, but he definitely wasn’t timing out on his transformation while he was naked ever again.

“Plagg, Claws Out!” Adrien said. 

Two nights in a row!Ladybug had to be exhausted, and Adrien wasn’t going to let her face a moment against the Akuma alone.He wasn’t going to be useless either.

Adrien had been expecting some sort of frog themed Akuma, but when he was getting a higher vantage over the city he couldn’t help but notice that the Seine was flowing a blood red, which wasn’t great.

By the time he met up with Ladybug the air was choking with biting gnats.

“So, I’m a first born son,” Adrien called out. 

The Akuma held a staff and besides calling down the Ten Plagues of Egypt, didn’t seem to have any major offensive capabilities besides the standard super strength and durability that was typical. 

“All of the boys are, actually,” Ladybug called back.

Adrien had thought it would be easy enough, but the Akuma turned out to have the ability to direct the animals of the plagues.A choking swarm of biting flies directed at one person was about the worst thing ever; then the plague of wild beasts came along and the ground effectively became lava if he didn’t want to get trampled.

After they had gotten a good handle on how the Akuma operated, Ladybug used Lucky Charm and Adrien was hoping for bug spray, but it was a copy of the Fox Miraculous.Lady Luck thought they needed help.

Adrien did the mental math on the progression of the plagues.“We’ve got about forty-five minutes until the big one,” he called out.

“I hate to leave you with this-“ Ladybug said.

“Go!” Adrien said.He attacked the Akuma for a bit to give Ladybug time to get out of sight and then backed off and let the Akuma chase him for a bit.It was dark out by then though, and Adrien started drawing the Akuma farther from the brightly lit areas of Paris and towards the places with dark alleys and fewer street lamps.No one saw in the dark like Chat Noir.Of course that meant Adrien could still see clearly the chaos happening in the streets below him.

Boils, it turned out, could be very painful, especially when they were all over your body and rubbing against a skintight suit.The fire and brimstone fortunately only rained down from the sky until the locusts showed up.The Locusts were infinitely worse than the gnats, but not as bad as burning sulfur raining down from the sky.When Ladybug arrived on the scene, Adrien had to assume Rena Rouge had come with her but was keeping out of sight to use her power to its fullest.He was ready to be done with it all.Paris was on fire.

“We’re getting close to the end!” Adrien said.At least Adrien’s end.Twice in as many nights wasn’t a record Adrien was looking to achieve.

A recharged Ladybug called upon her Lucky Charm once more, it was an absurdly large rubber strap this time.Ladybug grabbed his hand and pulled him away, out of sight of the Akuma.

“Now!” Ladybug called out.

Adrien could hear what was likely the illusion of himself and Ladybug moving in to distract the Akuma, who was loudly calling on them to give him their Miraculouses.

“Take this end,” Ladybug said.“Tie it over there.”She was pointing at a fire escape.

Adrien tied one end and Ladybug tied the other across the street and Adrien had a feeling he knew where it was going.Ladybug tied the end of her yo-yo in the middle and Adrien got positioned to be yeeted at the Akuma.Ladybug started pulling back, stretching the strap tighter and tighter till Adrien could hold onto both sides of the V with his feet nestled in the apex.He could see the illusions of himself and Ladybug in the distance darting towards the Akuma to keep him occupied, but never making contact.Then the world went dark, not as though all of the lights had gone out, but like something was sucking the light out of the air.Even the fires could barely pierce through the pitch black.

“I can’t aim,” Ladybug said. 

Adrien could still see though.Well enough.Rena couldn’t though, and her illusion fell apart.The Akuma started looking around for them.Next were the first borns.

“Left,” Adrien said, they’d have only one chance if there was going to be a hope of ending this before the tenth plague.“Stop, down a bit, a bit more.”He kept guiding her until.“Now!”

Adrien shot like an arrow through the air, he absolutely hated bugs, he hated them, he hated them, he hated them.The Akuma spotted him at the last moment and raised a shield of gnats and grasshoppers, but Adrien blasted through.He waited until the final moment and then, “Cataclysm!” Adrien called just before his hand swiped out at the Akuma’s staff which decayed into dust.Opening his mouth while shooting through the air was unfortunate.Of course, that didn’t end the darkness and after Adrien landed, he dashed back towards Ladybug while keeping his eye on the butterfly that was flying away through everything else flying around.Cats were focused though. 

“It’s getting away,” Adrien said and, without preamble, scooped Ladybug up and took chase after it.She wouldn’t be able to see it on her own.He chased after it with Ladybug in tow and, after a great deal of trial and error, Ladybug was able to blindly purify the butterfly.Then Adrien had to get her back to her Lucky Charm so she could call on Miraculous Ladybug and purge the city of the plagues.Their Miraculouses chimed at them again and again.Ladybug only just had time enough to fix the city before she was dashing off to an alleyway where a flash of light announced that she had timed out on her transformation.Adrien would have called out to see if she had anything to feed her Kwami, but he was coming up close himself and didn’t want to get stranded in his underwear.He absolutely did not have any cheese on him.After most battles, five minutes would have been more than enough time to find someone to beg some cheese from, but as it was, he was just lucky he and Ladybug hadn’t detransformed in the middle of the street.

“I’m going to need help!” Adrien called out.

Was Rena nearby?She would have timed out before the both of them.Adrien dashed off to the alleyway next to the one Ladybug had gone into.There were some trashcans and Adrien ducked behind them.

“Claws in,” Adrien said.

He’d transformed soaking wet and now he was still soaking wet, in his underwear. 

“Tell me you can feed me,” Plagg said. 

Hoping no one was going to walk by the alley anytime soon, Adrien stood up and started rooting around through the trashcan. 

It didn’t take long for the winter's night chill to get to him. His feet were already freezing. He just needed for someone to have thrown out some cheese and then he'd be set.His hands wound up covered in something unpleasant.

“Go get Ladybug,” Adrien said, pointing.“She should be in the next alleyway there.She might have to feed you.”

“You okay?” Plagg asked.

“I’ll be okay as soon as I can transform again,” Adrien said.

“Put this on,” Plagg said, picking up a plastic bag off the alley floor.As soon as Adrien took it, Plagg zoomed off to find Ladybug. “Don’t be seen.”

Even if no one connected him to Chat Noir, Adrien Agreste half naked and rooting around in the garbage would be a major scandal and Adrien would never see the light of day again.He tore a couple of holes and fashioned a god-awful ambiguously sticky mask.

“Hey, what are you doing down there?”

Shoot!!!

Adrien took off, barefoot, further down the alleyway till he reached a fence; Adrien started climbing.

“Hey, stop!”

All of Paris was just on fire! What were this guy’s priorities?

He gouged his thigh on the prongs at the top of the fence and fell down on the other side.He heard someone climbing the fence behind him, so apparently that trash was a priceless treasure he was pilfering.Adrien kept running, there were people around who definitely noticed him, but it was dark and Adrien had his ‘mask’, and if no one noticed he was wearing underwear that cost seventy euros a pair, they’d probably think… well, even being homeless wouldn’t explain this.He probably did look like some celebrity trying to avoid a scandal he was obviously in the middle of.He just kept running until he found an area devoid of any pedestrians and had few streetlights and eventually wound up hiding behind some pallets in some other god forsaken alleyway.A few minutes later he figured whoever that had been chasing after him had given up.The question was, should he go back to the original alleyway, or stay hidden where he was?There’d been a fair few people in the streets over that way.Make himself easier for Plagg to find, or easier to stay hidden from civilians?He was exhausted and he was absolutely freezing cold; he stayed huddled down where he was and shivered. 

He lost track of time.

…

“Adrien!”

His heart rate spiked.Someone had seen him and recognized him!He shot up, ready to run, his arm over his face, just in case there was a camera.

“It’s me, it’s Carapace.”

Adrien paused.He’d already known Carapace had been lying about not recognizing him the night before.His legs almost collapsed out from under him, they were so stiff.

“How long have I been missing?” Adrien asked.

“It’s been three hours since you guys defeated the Akuma,” Carapace said. 

At first he couldn’t believe it had been three hours, but honestly, he definitely felt like he had been huddled half naked in a freezing cold alleyway for three hours.

“Ladybug?” Adrien asked.

“Searching a few blocks over that way,” Carapace said.“It’s all hands on deck, dude.Told us to look for a half naked kid with a plastic bag over his head.”

“I hate my life,” Adrien said.

“I’m sorry, bro,” Carapace said.“Just hang tight, I’m going to text out I’ve found you.”

“Tell her just to send Plagg, I don’t want her seeing me like this,” Adrien said.She’d never see him as anything but the gross plastic bag guy.

“You’re bleeding,” Carapace said.

“I was bleeding,” Adrien said.“It’s just a scrape, it’s already stopped.”

“I wish I’d brought a coat,” Carapace said.

Adrien shrugged.Finally, Plagg zoomed up, he just barely had the chance to say, “You looklike crap, kid,” before Adrien said, “Plagg, Claws Out!”

The transformation was a relief.

“Thanks,” Adrien told Carapace.“So, who’s ‘all hands on deck?’”

“Me, Rena, Ryuko, and Viperion,” Carapace said.“I’m texting Ladybug that I’m going to help you with some minor first aid.”

“Seriously,” Adrien said.“I’m fine.”

“You’re seriously not,” Carapace said.“Come on, I already know who you are and we don’t live too far apart.”

Adrien didn’t feel like arguing about it.“Whatever,” he said.“But don’t make Ladybug wait up to get your Miraculous.”

“She can collect the others first,” Carapace said.“We’ll be quick.”

So Adrien made his way back home.Paris was already recovered from the ordeal of that evening and the streets were about as empty as expected for a Monday night.Adrien beelined to his bathroom as soon as he climbed through his window. 

“Claws In,” Adrien said.

He ripped the plastic bag off of his head and turned the shower on hot.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” Adrien called to Carapace.

“Ladybug says to take as long as we need.”

Ladybug had been up all night the night before just like he had been.

The water wasn't even steaming yet but it felt scalding hot on his frozen skin. Adrien rapidly but thoroughly started scrubbing himself from head to toe. As he began to warm up, things started hurting more.His feet weren’t in great shape.

“What happened to you, kid?” Plagg asked.

“I got chased by the trash police,” Adrien said.

“You sure it wasn’t the naked celebrity police?” Plagg asked.

“Plagg, I’m going to ask you to Cataclysm me if my trash covered face is splashed across tabloids tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, yeah, just hurry up and get out so you can feed me,” Plagg said.

“What did Ladybug give you?” Adrien asked.

“Mozzarella!” Plagg said.“Can you believe that?”

“Where’s your first aid stuff?” Carapace called through the door.

“Plagg, could you?”

Plagg zoomed out to show Carapace and Adrien shut off the shower.

Carapace was going through his first aid kit when Adrien got out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist.The first thing he did, after getting into a pair of underwear that weren’t covered in alley grime, was throw his new Chat Noir sweater on; Carapace could think what he wanted about that.The cashmere was so soft and warm.His mother had always loved cashmere; he threw the hood up, remembering how it had always felt against his cheek.

“There’s blood on your floor,” Carapace said.

Adrien turned to look.It wasn’t a lot.His right heel was the likely culprit.Wrapping his arms around himself, he walked over to his mini fridge on the balls of his feet and pulled out some cheese for Plagg before going to sit on his bed.

“So, where are you hurt?” Carapace asked.

Adrien sighed.It wasn’t as though he’d be able to see it well enough to do it himself.

“Back of my left thigh and my feet, I guess.”

Adrien wound up laying down on his stomach while Carapace disinfected and patched up his injuries. 

“I guess you’ve had a rough couple of nights,” Carapace said.

“Nothing this cat can’t handle,” Adrien murmured.“Do you have any questions?”

“Questions?” Carapace asked.

“You just found out that Chat Noir is a vapid fashion model.”

“You think you’re vapid?”

“ _You_ might,” Adrien said.

“Dude, I don’t think you’re vapid,” Carapace said, taping a pad of gauze over the scrapes on his thigh.He hoped Carapace thought he shivered because he was still cold, rather than the feel of him smoothing down the tape against his skin.Carapace moved down and Adrien’s foot jumped as Carapace prodded it with an alcohol soaked cotton ball.“Sorry. You’ve had your tetanus shot, right?”

“As far as I know,” Adrien said. 

“So your dad has you modeling underwear now?” Carapace asked.

“I was in the shower,” Adrien said.He’d never been asked to model underwear and he doubted it was something Father expected him to do when he got older.Not Adrien’s brand image.Not for the scion who would someday run the company.

“It’s okay to take a moment to grab a coat,” Carapace said.

“I don’t like Ladybug getting there before me,” Adrien said.“She should have someone watching her back.”

Another prod from Carapace.“Crap, uh, you’ve got some gravel stuck in here under your skin,” he said.“I think I’ll need to use the tweezers.”

Adrien was a super hero, and super heroes didn’t whine about minor injuries.Cleaning the gravel out wasn’t quick.“You’re being too gentle,” Adrien said.“Just dig in there and get it out.”

Carapace hesitated, but grabbed Adrien’s ankle with one hand and… Adrien buried his face into his mattress and tried not to kick Carapace in the head.

“Alright, just going to disinfect this,” Carapace said.

“Crap crap crap,” Adrien said as the alcohol felt like it was directly hitting a nerve.

The heel was an awkward place to apply a bandage to, so there was a lot of taping.

“Hey,” Adrien said.“How does it work with you and Rena?”

“Uh, Ladybug just shows up with our Miraculous whenever we’re needed,” Carapace said.

“No,” Adrien said.“Like, you’re together.”

“Oh,” Carapace said.“That obvious?”

“Pretty obvious,” Adrien said.

“Well, we know each other IRL, so it’s easy enough,” Carapace said.“And we hardly ever fight together, so it’s not like I’m always getting distracted worrying about her.”

“You know each other’s identities?” Adrien asked.“Does Ladybug know?”

“She gave us our Miraculouses at the same time once,” Carapace said.

He supposed it was alright for the auxiliaries.Ladybug didn’t mind that Adrien knew who Viperion and Ryuko were.

Carapace started crumpling up the wrappers for the gauze pad’s he’d used.“It’s almost midnight,” he said.“Get some rest, dude, and watch out for infections.That alleyway was nasty.”

“You’re telling me,” Adrien said, rolling onto his side and twisting to get a look at the work Carapace had done.

Carapace headed to the window.

“Thanks,” Adrien said.“I don’t know what I would have done if no one had come for me.”

“Ladybug would have found you if she had to stay up the whole night to do it,” Carapace said.“I’m glad I found you, though; not sure you have the self-preservation to properly clean up your alley wounds.”

“Good night, Carapace,” Adrien said.

Carapace smirked at him.“Take it easy kit-kat,” he said before diving out the window.

Adrien dropped the hood on his sweater; his cheeks were feeling warm.

“I swear, if Hawkmoth looses another Akuma tonight I’m destroying this entire city just to make sure I can get some sleep,” Plagg said.

“Okay,” Adrien said.“That’s fair.”

Adrien changed into his new pajamas, got into bed, and promptly fell asleep.

He woke up sick the following morning.Just a light fever and a headache, but Nathalie called him in sick for the day.She already had the lesson plans for all his classes so giving him work to do wasn’t difficult.Nino kept sending him cat gifs throughout the day, and sent a ‘get well soon’ group photo when classes let out.Adrien sent that to Colette, the companies social media manager, with the suggested message, ‘I was feeling under the weather today.So glad I have friends to keep my spirits up.I hope I’m back tomorrow! :)’Adrien was pretty sure it was okay for his brand to get sick every now and then.

Despite the fever, Adrien felt the chill from the night before all day, even though the fever was gone by the afternoon. Even then, while he wasn’t considered well enough to go visit the company headquarters to listen to people talk about the supply chain, he was considered well enough to practice piano and write an essay about what led to the fashion trends of the Art Nouveau era. Luckily, he had managed to finish all of his homework during the day, so he wound up completely free after dinner.

He found Plagg asleep in his laundry hamper and woke him up with some cheese in front of his nose.He was patrolling with Ladybug later that night, but he wanted to stretch his legs first.For whatever reason he found himself stretching his legs towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery; perhaps it was temptation.

* * *

Marinette heard the barely there clack overhead that meant Chat Noir was on her balcony.She rushed up and before he could so much as make a pun or call her princess, she had wrapped him up in a tight hug.She’d been so worried. 

“Come in,” Marinette said.“I’ll go get some snacks.Any preferences?”

“Do you have any of those lemon cloud tarts?” Chat asked, dropping down after her into her bedroom.

“Coming right up,” Marinette said.She left him alone in her room while she went downstairs.She passed her parents watching a romance in the sitting room and went down into the bakery.

“Did your mother send you off to bed without dessert?” Claudia asked from her spot at the register.There was a modest crowd for a Monday evening.

“I have a friend over,” Marinette said, filling up a plate.She filled up a carafe with hot water and threw in some tea bags.It was too late now, but her kitty cat must have been freezing the night before. 

“The mystery boy?” Claudia asked.She could always tell when she was getting snacks for Chat and Marinette had never figured out how. 

“All boys are a mystery,” Marinette said.

“Oh darling, I’m sure they’d like you to think that,” Claudia said.“Don’t fall for it.”

“Don’t worry,” Marinette said.“I’m not falling for this one.”

Claudia laughed like she didn’t believe her.

Marinette went back upstairs, paying the dad-tax on her way through the sitting room.

“Art nouveau and steampunk,” Chat said when Marinette walked back into her bedroom, he was standing next to her drafting board.

“Yes,” Marinette said, a bit surprise that he would recognize the influences.“You’re full of surprises sometimes kitty cat.”

Chat preened, and there was his Cheshire grin.“Who needs to teach an old dog new tricks when this cat’s got enough knowledge to fill nine lives?”

“Well, I hope you aren’t already on your ninth,” Marinette said.He was actually getting close though.“Come on, I’ll show you what I’ve been working on.”

“Are these going to be wings?” Chat asked, pointing to the flowing arcs coming from the back of the figure she’d sketched out.

“They’re supposed to evoke wings,” Marinette said. 

“What material?” Chat asked.

“I’m thinking brass,” Marinette said.“Or something similar in look.”

“Is this something you’re planning on making?” Chat asked.He didn’t think she had experience with metal work.

“No,” Marinette said.“But Jagged Stone is looking for some design ideas for a music video.”

“Really?” Chat asked. “Princess, that’s great.” 

“I’m sure he’s put the call out to a bunch of designers,” Marinette said.

“Did he call you or did his assistant?” Chat asked.

“He did, but-“

“No buts,” Chat said, snatching one of the tarts.“He knows talent when he sees it, just like me.”He was leaning in awfully close.

She took one of the tarts herself, feeling a bit flustered, which wasn’t something she was used to feeling around Chat.

“Well, there’s no way his production team isn’t looking around elsewhere,” Marinette said.“Have some tea, it’s chilly out there.”

“Spending time with you warms me up,” Chat said, but he reached for the carafe. 

“You’re a flirt,” Marinette said.

“Maybe it’s just something you bring out of me,” Chat said, giving her his roguish grin.

That definitely wasn’t as good as when Adrien did it, so why was she blushing.

“Hmm, definitely just a tom cat,” Marinette said.

“Meouch,” Chat said.“A wound from a maiden so fair pierces all the deeper.”

“I’ve wounded you, have I?” Marinette asked.They were so close, and she’d been so worried about him, and perhaps he was just too pretty.She didn’t have to lean forward far to kiss him on the cheek.“I hope a kiss makes it better.”

Chat’s hand went up to his cheek, and he had such an innocent look on his face just then, Marinette could almost imagine a girl had never kissed him before, except, Ladybug had.

“A kiss from a princess makes everything better,” Chat said.He took her hand in his and brought it up to his lips.“So if I have offended thee, I can only hope the lips of a tom cat could be so magical.”He was looking her right in the eyes.

Chat had been her first kiss when Dark Cupid had turned his heart black against her.He had been her second when the craziness of Oblivio had worn off of them.He was her third, as she leaned forward once more and delicately placed her lips against his, for no other reason than that she wanted to.He leaned into her and it felt like every nerve ending in her body had been relocated to her lips, and just when she thought she was going to pull him as close to her as she could the moment was over.She pulled away.She couldn’t meet his eyes. 

Chat sighed.“But you have feelings for Adrien.”

“And secret identities,” Marinette said.“And… I’m sorry Chat.”

“I wouldn’t want you to regret kissing me,” Chat said, looking forward at her sketches.

“Then I won’t,” Marinette said.“If you won’t regret kissing me.”

“Impossible,” Chat said, but still he was hesitant.“Should I…”

“You should eat another tart,” Marinette said.“And tell me more about what you think about my design.You better believe I’m going for a win here.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to only go half way, princess,” Chat said, a refreshingly familiar smirk on his face.

Later that night he excused himself to go on patrol and Marinette gave him a bit of time before she left.

“So, that happened,” she told Tiki.

“Did you want it to happen?” Tiki asked.

“You know it could never work out,” Marinette said.

“But did you?” Tiki asked.

“Yes?” Marinette said.“It felt right at the time.”

“Life is made up of experiences Marinette, if it felt right in the moment, then cherish the moment, even if a moment is all it will ever be.”

“I’m so glad you’re my Kwami,” Marinette said.

“I am too,” Tiki said brightly.

“Alright, it’s time to go yell at that mangy cat,” Marinette said.She yelled down to her parents that she was going to go visit Alya in a bit and then with the door closed once more, “Tiki, Spots On!”

The moment she landed on the rooftop next to Chat she let loose her yo-yo and reeled him in.

“My Lady,” Chat said.“I’m sorry about last night.”

“Try Sunday night,” Marinette said.

“I can be sorry for not deflecting that hit well, but I’ll never be sorry for shielding you,” Chat said.

“I need you by my side, not laying on the ground at my feet,” Marinette said.“Chatton, what happens if some day we don’t win, and…”

“If an Akuma slips through our fingers,” Chat said.“Then there will be worse consequences than needing to find a new Chat Noir.”

“There is no Chat Noir without you!” Marinette said.

“There is no Paris without Ladybug,” Chat said.“I never want to leave you, but if it’s a choice between that and loosing you, I’ll choose the former.”

“Chat…” Marinette said.She let him loose.“Who ever told you you weren’t worth the world.”

“It’s a lesson I’ve learned,” Chat said.

“Well unlearn it,” Marinette said.Chat shook his head.“I’m sorry about last night, you must have been miserable.”

“I’m sorry I kept you up,” Chat said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Marinette said.“How bad were you hurt?I would have understood if you wanted to take tonight off.”

“Just some scrapes, Carapace patched me up,” Chat said, he looked away from her, pensive.“I’ve been unfaithful, My Lady.”

“You know I’m not holding you to anything,” Marinette said.

“Still felt like it, though,” Chat said.

She poked him in the side.“I’ll be happy for you if you find someone who makes you happy.Just as long as Carapace was faithful to Rena last night.”

“Oh, I didn’t kiss Carapace,” Chat said.

“Was it Viperion?” Marinette asked, feigning ignorance.

“Hm, I might have made a pass,” Chat said.“But no.”

Marinette gasped.“What?When?”

“Not telling,” Chat said. 

“It wasn’t Adrien Agreste was it?” Marinette asked.

Chat grinned. “While I wouldn’t say no to a kiss from him…”

Marinette blushed, imagining the two in each other’s arms.

“It was a girl actually,” Chat said.

“I suppose it might be identifying if you told me who,” Marinette said

“Well, a knight in shining armor doesn’t kiss and tell,” Adrien said.

“Are you going to date her?” Marinette asked, letting the conversation roll along as if she didn’t already know full well that he was talking about her.

“Not as Chat Noir, certainly,” he said.“Actually, there’s a girl at my school I’ve been considering asking to the dance.”

“Have you really?” Marinette asked.

“Well, I heard through the grape vine that she liked me,” Chat said.“My best friend thinks I should ask her.”

“Is she nice?” Marinette asked.

“She’s very nice,” Chat said.“And creative, and helpful, and more than a little shy around me, actually.”

“There’s a boy I’m going to ask to the dance tomorrow,” Marinette said firmly, more to herself than to Chat.

“Is he a gentleman?” Chat asked.

“He’s a saint,” Marinette said.

“Well, if he has any sense he’ll ask you before you get the chance,” Chat said.

“You don’t think a lady should ask out a boy?” Marinette asked.

“Oh, I think that’s fine,” Adrien said.“But when it comes to you, My Lady, I think this guy should be falling over himself to ask you out.”

“I could be so lucky,” Marinette said.“I was thinking about asking a girl to the dance.A friend, probably just as friends.She’s homeschooled and doesn’t really get to do stuff like that.She won’t be in town though.”

“Oh,” Chat said.“Same actually.Though I’ll tell you, I actually did ask a guy out.”

“He turned you down?”

Chat shrugged.“He wasn’t into tom cats.”

“I’m sorry,” Ladybug said.

“Don’t be,” Chat said.“I wasn’t serious about him, even though he is ridiculously pretty… and charming… and zen?That’s a quality, right?”

“Sure.So are you out in your civilian life now?” Marinette asked.

Chat huffed a laugh.“Just to my best friend and the guy who turned me down.I guess if he’d said ‘yes’ I would have had a deadline for coming out at school.Or maybe I’d have just let them all figure it out at the dance.”

“What about your family?” Marinette asked.

“I guess my dad will find out about it eventually,” Chat said.He sounded bitter.

“Chat,” Marinette said.“Is everything alright at home?”

Chat looked like he tried to brighten up, to get back his smirk and lie through his teeth.“No,” he said.“I guess it hasn’t been for a while.”

“Chatton,” Marinette said.She shouldn’t have asked.She definitely shouldn’t ask any follow up questions, but how could she ignore him when he was hurting.If there was anywhere he might have gotten the idea he wasn’t worth the world, it was probably at home.“What’s wrong?”

Chat looked at her, the same knowledge that these were forbidden topics was clear in his eyes.Superheroes with secret identities shouldn’t talk about their families.He laughed though, it was hollow.“You know,” he said.“I figured out a while ago that he doesn’t really like me.”

Marinette put a hand on his shoulder.

“Parents don’t have to like you,” Chat said.“But they’re still supposed to…”He heaved a sigh.“Well I figured out last week that he doesn’t.But hey, you know, that’s fine.”

“It’s not fine, Chat,” Marinette said, pulling him in for a hug. 

“Now I don’t know if he ever did,” Chat said.“Maybe when my mom was still around he was just better at faking it, for her sake.”

“Does he ever hurt you?” Marinette asked.To hell with secret identities if he did, she’d need to pay him a visit.

“No,” Chat said.“No, it’s not like that.” He pulled away and took her by the hand to the edge of the roof where he sat down.“I’m an asset to him, an asset he takes good care of, in his own way.”

“Well, that’s not what you are in this relationship,” Marinette said.“You’re not a tool that’s just used up until it’s broken.You’re important to me.” She needed him to understand what it did to her to see him take a hit for her.

She wanted to tell him that she loved him, she wanted to hold him all night and kiss him and fill every empty space in his heart that his father had left, but that wouldn’t be fair to either of them.The night she’d realized that Chat truly had feelings for her, that he wasn’t just flirting, it had taken her all of a moment to play it out in her head.Ladybug was just a fraction of who she was.Chat Noir was just a fraction of who he was.She could never share herself with him the way he deserved, and she could never get everything she wanted from a relationship with a boy she only ever saw in a mask.

“Someday,” Marinette said.“Your life is going to be so filled with love, you won’t know what to do with it.”

“What if I really don’t know what to do with it?” Chat asked.

“You’ll learn,” Marinette said.

“How do you know?” Chat said.

“Because I know you,” Marinette said.She knew him that well at least.

“I’ve got some good friends,” Chat said.“And I have you in my life, it’s not all bad.”

“I’m glad,” Marinette said.“Do you still love him?”

“Of course I do,” Chat said.“He’s my dad... I just can’t wait around anymore for him to figure that out.I tried.I… I tried for so long, and um… I know… I know it isn’t my fault.”

“Of course it isn’t,” Marinette said.“I don’t know what happened, but your dad’s broken and it isn’t your responsibility to fix him.”

“I thought I had to, in case she ever came back,” Chat said.

Chat was proud, and cocksure, and she knew he always wanted to be strong in front of her, so she hugged him close, but didn’t acknowledge the tears running down his face.Eventually he gave a big sniffle.“We were supposed to be patrolling.”

“We don’t have to,” Marinette said.

“I do,” Chat said.“I’ll race you to the Louvre.”He was putting on a determinedly cheerful face.

“Tell you what kitty cat,” Marinette said.“I’ll race you to who can ask out someone to the dance first.”

“Ah, but I already won that contest My Lady,” Chat said.

“You know what I mean,” Ladybug said.“Your girl, my boy.”

“Do they have to say yes?” Chat asked.

Marinette thought about it.“No, this is purely a test of nerve.”

“Deal,” Chat said.“So what do I get if I win?”

“Hmm,” Marinette thought about it.“A date I suppose.”

“Careful,” Chat said, his more familiar smirk teasing on the same lips she’d kissed earlier.“I might take that to mean you’ll go out with me if she says no.”

“I can’t imagine she’ll say no,” Marinette said.

“We’ll see,” Chat said.

“So that’s our race?” Marinette asked.

“Yes,” Chat said, sticking out his hand. 

She stuck out her own, but for the second time that night, he drew her hand up to his lips and kissed her.

“Well then, if the Louvre is out, how about ice cream?”

“You know,” Chat said.“After last night, I felt cold all day until this evening I started to warm up.” He pulled his baton from the small of his back.“I think I can handle ice cream with the right company.I’ll find Andre.”He extended his baton and shot up into the sky where he would have a bird’s eye view of the city below.

So they got ice cream and after a while they actually started patrolling.They completed one of their usual circuits and then finally Marinette took Chat aside to talk about what should have taken up the entire night.

“So I followed a couple of butterflies Sunday night,” Marinette said.

“Seriously?” Chat asked.“We tried that.You haven’t been reading fan fiction, have you?”

“No,” Marinette said.“But you mentioning it gave me the idea, and also playing video games with a boy I know.”

“Oh yeah?”

“We thought maybe they returned to Hawkmoth, but what if it’s the opposite?”

“They’re running away?” Chat asked.

“It’s a thought.”

“It’s a good thought,” Chat nodded.“Though we’re assuming they know which direction to go.”

“Butterflies migrate,” Marinette said.“So they have a sense of direction.”

Chat looked thoughtful.“Anything yet?”

“Well two random lines are going to intersect somewhere,” Marinette said.“And I doubt my mapping skills are that great, it might take several samples before we have anything.”

“Should we talk about it with the police?” Chat asked.

Ladybug shrugged.“If we start to see some sort of pattern, sure.”

“Are you using GPS on your communicator?”

Marinette nodded.“I’m taking the position where the Akuma was released, chase it for a couple of blocks and get another position for the vector.”

Chat shook his head.“That’s good, but the closer the points are together the more of an effect any error is going to have when we stretch that line out.Actually, yeah, we take that initial two block point but keep going, take points every couple of blocks, see how long it travels in a straight line, if it travels in a straight line.”

“This is one of many things I need you for Chatton,” Marinette said.“This is good.We have something to work on.”

“Identities and safety come first,” Chat said.“There’s going to be plenty of Akumas before we figure this out, no point chasing one if you’re just going to detransform in the middle of a jump.”

“Lecturing me about safety now, are you?” Marinette asked.

“Your safety is my top priority,” Chat said.

She reached out to him but let her hand fall back to her side. 

“Well, that’s all I have for now.Good night Chatton,” Marinette said.

“Good night My Lady,” Chat said.

Marinette went home, detransformed in the alley behind the shop and went inside.The shop was closed for the night, and Marinette was just going to announce her return at her parent’s bedroom door, but knocked instead.

“Marinette?” her mom called.

She stuck her head in.

“How’s Alya?”

“Terribly busy with the Ladyblogg,” Marinette said.“I just wanted to say good night.”

“Good night, sweet heart,” her mom said.

“Good night, maman, good night papa, I love you,” Marinette said.

“We love you too, dear,” her dad said.

Marinette closed the door and went upstairs to her room.She kicked off her shoes, and lay down on her bed.She grabbed a pillow and started hugging it tighter and tighter.

“Tiki,” Marinette said, her voice wavering.“Someday, we’re going to defeat Hawkmoth, and the Guardian is going to take back our miraculous, but first, I need to go beat up Chat Noir’s dad.”

Later, Marinette knew, Tiki would tell her that the miraculous couldn’t be used for revenge, but for just then, Tiki flew up and nestled herself next to Marinette’s heart, and Marinette held onto her as she cried for her kitty cat who wouldn’t hear the words she had heard from her father spoken to him that night from his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for ending another chapter of this supposedly silly story with another sad scene. Tell me what you think about that.


	4. Look Into Your Eyes, and the Sky's the Limit

“So,” Adrien said, sitting down to breakfast.Nathalie was there to review his schedule.“It’s Wednesday.I was wondering if I could stay at school for lunch today.”

There was a moment where Nathalie seemed to be staring into his soul.“Your father has agreed that you can stay one day a week,” she said, and Adrien’s victory was quashed by the war inside of him between the part of him that said it meant Father cared, and the part that said that Father was smart enough to know he was balancing the control of a teenager.

Nathalie went on.“As well, you will be allowed one guest on one day each week.”

“Thank you,” Adrien said.

“They’ll have to be cleared ahead of time,” Nathalie said.

“Nino?” Adrien asked.

“We’ll see,” Nathalie said.Father had relented just a bit on the blanket Nino ban after he’d seen that Nino had a semi-professional business as a DJ for parties.

“However,” Nathalie said, “you do have a shoot this afternoon; you will have to be ready to leave immediately after lunch.Do not show us that this is a mistake.”

“I won’t,” Adrien said.“But, I mean, I did miss classes yesterday.”

“And your work was thorough and turned in,” Nathalie said.“You’re already excused from classes.”

And of course, they weren’t going to reschedule for him.

“What are we shooting?” Adrien asked.

“Agreste brand is now partnering with Kairos,” Nathalie said.“So, on the next note.” She slid a Kairos watch box across the table.Adrien took off the Seiko watch that he would never wear again and slipped on the new one. 

“Did we have a corporate break up?” Adrien asked.

“Can you tell me why?” Nathalie asked.

“Differing visions for the future of our brands,” Adrien said.“The Summer line is going to represent a bit of a departure from where we’ve been going since twenty-fifteen.”

Nathalie nodded.“There’s also a brewing scandal with one of their brand ambassadors,” she said.“The switch was originally planned for after school let out for the summer.I think you’ll like this.Kairos is making a smart watch that embraces new technologies and innovation while retaining it’s classic design.”

“I didn’t think Kairos made watches that actually looked like something a teen would wear to school,” Adrien said.“Or smart watches for that matter.Actually this doesn’t look like a smart watch at all.”

“The market has been changing, Adrien,” Nathalie chided.“It’s a watch appropriate for the discerning young gentlemen.Suitable for an evening out or to track your fitness on the court.The top glass is a screen that is clear when not in use.”

“Any more talking points?” Adrien asked, tapping at the screen.

“Between the brushed titanium alloy and the sapphire glass, you don’t have to worry about the finish with your active lifestyle, and you’re proud that Agreste brand is partnering with a company committed to using ethically sourced battery materials.”

“That’s cool,” Adrien said.“So is this an active wear shoot or a formal shoot?”

“What do you think it should be for this watch?” Nathalie asked.

“Both I suppose, if they’re going for versatility,” Adrien said.“Hey, if it’s so tough, I should upload a climbing video to my instagram.”

“Your climbing wall isn’t exactly rough terrain,” Nathalie said.

“Fontainebleau is though,” Adrien said.“It’s little more than an hour away, I’m sure you could squeeze an afternoon into my schedule somewhere, you said you’d have been able to make the fencing trip work if Father had said yes.”

“We’ll consider it, but that will have to be reviewed by social media,” Nathalie said.

“And, hey,” Adrien said, “Nino’s been getting into shape, I’m sure he’d love to come along.”

“We’ll see,” Nathalie said.“Come on now, you’ve hardly eaten anything, let me finish going over your schedule for the evening.”

Adrien ate his perfectly balanced meal and nodded along to Nathalie’s breakdown of his day and then he was off to school.The Gorilla must have missed him the day before, because he almost looked happy to see Adrien.Adrien kept up a one sided conversation during the drive about how awesome Carapace was.He knew the Gorilla was secretly a superhero fanboy.As he talked, he tried to inject just a bit of Chat Noir into his voice.It didn’t work.Should he just be a bit more Chat like in his daily life when he had a reasonable distance from any paparazzi or others who might spread around anything he did that was un-Adrien like?Probably not in front of the Gorilla though.

His heart thudded just a bit as he walked into school.Marinette would be there, and they had kissed the night before, which had been awesome, but she didn’t know Adrien had kissed her, and Adrien was supposed to ask her out, and not break her heart.First thing, though, Adrien decided, he’d ask her out first thing.As he thought about that kiss though, something odd occurred to him.Marinette really liked Adrien, and she had to be at least a little into Chat Noir.That was something he wasn’t sure how to process.She was into both sides of him, two different versions of him.She liked both sides of him; she liked all of him.It should have made him feel validated but he felt vulnerable instead, exposed.Should he be a bit of Adrien and a bit of Chat when he asked her out?Marinette, of course, wasn’t in the classroom when he got there.

“Hey,” Nino said.“We missed you yesterday.You’re feeling better, right?”

“I feel great,” Adrien said.“Thanks for the texts yesterday.I’ve got exciting news though.”

“Your dad’s letting you go on that trip to Normandy?” Nino guessed.

“I wish,” Adrien said.“But this is better."

“So what’s up?”

“I get to stay for lunch on Wednesdays,” Adrien said.“And I can have a friend over for lunch one day a week, pending clearance.”

“Dude, that’s great!” Nino said.“Am I still banned from the house though?”

“We’ll see,” Adrien said.“So, I was thinking of sitting in on the Queer Students Alliance meeting today, and after that I’m going for a shoot.”

“That’s cool,” Nino said.“Do you want me to come with you?”

“You don’t have to,” Adrien said.

“I didn’t think I did, bro,” Nino said.

“Well, thanks,” Adrien said.

“Hey,” Nino said, turning serious.“On Monday, I sort of thought you were going to talk to me about something serious before the girls came in.”

Just then, the girls came in.Adrien was having a good morning, he’d already vented at Ladybug, he’d talk to Nino about it later.

“Marinette,” Adrien said excitedly.

“Adrien!” was her response.

Before he could consider how to inject a bit of Chat into his proposal, the words just came out of his mouth one hundred percent Adrien.“I’d be honored if you’d let me take you to Spring Formal,” he said.

Exactly at the same time that Marinette asked, “Would you like to go spring with me?”

Crud.Adrien stared at Marinette in shock, because he hadn’t been expecting that at all.

Suddenly, Marinette went red in the face and her eyes grew wide.“A date, a friend date! As a friend!” she said suddenly

Alya literally smacked her palm against her forehead, and Nino seemed to choke on something, but that was alright, because Adrien could see now.She really did like him, and maybe she was a bit prone to panic, but she liked him.The rest would work itself out. 

“A friend date, then,” Adrien said.They’d just have to see if she still wanted to call it a friend date when it was over.He squeezed her shoulder.He turned to Nino.“So who asked first?”

“Who asked what first?” Marinette asked.

“Girl, Adrien just asked you to the dance,” Alya said.

“O-oh,” Marinette said, but then suddenly.“Wait, who did ask first?”

“Who cares Mari, you’re going to the dance with Adrien,” Alya said.

“I mean, one of you actually has to say yes,” Nino said.“I’m pretty sure it’s the law or something.”

“Yes,” they said at the same time, this got the first smile out of Marinette.

“But seriously,” Marinette said.

“It was a tie!” Alya said, exasperated.

Would Ladybug count that?Maybe he should get a second opinion from Nino.Class was beginning, though, so they all went to their seats.

“Two steps forward, one step back is still one step forward,” Adrien heard Alya quietly tell Marinette.

That’s what the concessions from his dad felt like, there was always a but, or there was always a, ‘We’re giving you this chance so you can prove to us we shouldn’t have given you this chance.’He’d taken a step forward though, and he’d take another step at lunch when he went to the club meeting.There were still no steps forward when it came to being a little bit more Chat, nothing at all when he’d asked her out.It just didn’t come naturally to him when he wasn’t wearing the mask.Maybe Plagg was wrong.

He made sure to smile at Marinette in-between classes, but dance proposal out of the way, the lunch club meeting was the next thing on his plate.Of course, what was always on his plate was getting top grades, or else, so Adrien couldn’t be too anxious during class.

“Hey,” Nino said to Alya, when the lunch bell rang.“Adrien’s got lunch to himself, so we’re going to go hang out.”

“Okay,” Alya said.“You boys have fun.We’ve got some girl talk to get through.”And then she very quickly rounded up almost every girl in the class and they all left together.

“I’ve got to run and get my lunch,” Adrien said.“Hey, did you bring a lunch?I should have told you, but I only found out this morning.”

“I’ve got some granola bars,” Nino said.

“I’ll share,” Adrien said. 

“Your tiny little lunch?” Nino asked.

“I’ll count the calories and make them up later,” Adrien said.

“Well, come on then,” Nino said.

They ran down to the curb outside where the Gorilla was already waiting, a lacquered wooden lunchbox in hand.“Thanks,” Adrien said, grabbing the box and running off before the Gorilla could grab him and drag him home.

“Where do they meet?”

“Third floor chemistry lab,” Adrien said.

“Adrien,” Luka said, as soon as they walked through the door.“I’m glad you could come, and Nino too.”

“Hey Luka,” Adrien said, looking around nervously, but with an outwardly calm and affable face.He was good at pretending. 

Just pretend to be Chat.Chat was out.Chat could go to a club meeting without worrying about it.He drew a few looks from the others, but no one made a big deal about him being there.Nathaniel and Mark were there, huddled up over something Nathaniel was drawing.He turned back to the older boy.“So, what usually happens during meetings?”Just Adrien there.

“Well, they’re going to invite you to introduce yourself,” Luka said, and for a moment, Adrien’s heart rate spiked.Was he supposed to come out?Chat had, but Adrien couldn’t.“You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to though.” Oh. “Then there should be some planning for an event happening in June, and someone usually does something on queer history or current events.People might talk about issues they’re having at the end, like family stuff.”

“Cool,” Nino said. 

There was an older student named Sarah who ran the meeting, and she did invite the both of them to introduce themselves.

“Hi, I’m Adrien, I’m in Miss Bustier’s homeroom and I was interested in learning more about your club.”

Nino said he was there to support the LGBTQ community and then the meeting went on like Luka had said.He shared his lunch with Nino, who gave him a granola bar, ‘for dessert.’The whole time, Adrien kept an eye on his watch, because there was no way he was going to be late on his first day of marginally more freedom. 

Adrien was waiting for the Gorilla outside when the car pulled up.He waved at Marinette and Alya who were returning from lunch across the street.He got in the car and settled in to tell the Gorilla about how cool it would be to take Nino rock climbing.Maybe the Gorilla would text Nathalie about it.No mention of the club meeting, of course.No mention about the date.The ‘friend date.’He’d have to tell them eventually, since he didn’t want Nathalie to find out about it through the grapevine.The Gorilla might keep some secrets, but he still worked for Father and he still reported to Nathalie.

* * *

“Okay,” Alya said.“Strategy meeting.It’s still weeks until the dance, so we have some time, but we need to turn this ‘friend date’ into a date date.”

Mylène raised her hand.

“Mylène,” Alya said.“Also you don’t need to raise your hand.”

“Oh,” Mylène said.“Well, maybe she should send him something to show that she’s interested.”

“What sort of flowers do you send to a boy?” Rose asked.

“You don’t send boys flowers,” Alix said.“Marinette needs to challenge him to a game, get his heart pounding, kick his butt, and then give him her most seductive pickup line, like- well, someone else will have to come up with that part.But she definitely needs to kick his butt first.”

“I don’t think Marinette is going for seductive,” Juleka said.“Who knows what happens in the modeling world?You don’t want to imply anything.”

Alya gasped.“Adrien is a sweet summer child,” she said.“But on that note, I’m not sure if he would even recognize a pickup line.”

Marinette nodded.Pickup lines were for boys like Chat Noir.Realistically she knew that being straight forward with Adrien was probably the best option.

“Oh, I know, a blue passion flower to put behind his ear,” Rose said.

“No flowers,” Alix said.“Marinette needs to make sure she’s the only thing on his mind between now and the dance.”

“Oh my god, you’re all over thinking this,” Juleka said.“You’ve got weeks, stop acting like the dance has to be their first date.”

“Oh,” Alya said.“We’ll have a ‘class outing,’ and then everyone backs out at the last minute except Marinette and Adrien.”

Juleka gave out an exasperated groan.

“A class trip to the Parc Floral de Paris!” Rose said, excitedly.“Oh, now I want to go! If we ‘back out,’ can we go incognito?”

“No flowers!” Alix insisted.

“I’ll invite him over to coordinate our attire,” Marinette said, speaking up for the first time.“He’ll have to wear something his dad approves of and I’ll have to wear something that matches.I’ll talk to him then.”

“But will you though?” Alix asked.

“I asked him out this morning, didn’t I,” Marinette said.“He’ll come over, we’ll talk fashion, and then I’ll ask him if he’d like to come over for a movie some time?”

“At your house?” Alix asked.“With your parents there?A first date?”

“Parents can make things awkward,” Mylène said diplomatically.

“The last time Adrien tried to go to a movie theatre he got mobbed by his fans, his bodyguard was Akumatized, and he got thrown off the top of a high-rise,” Marinette said.“I’ll make it work.” She said with determination.“I’ll tell my parents to give us some space,” she told Mylène.“I’ll just keep things nice and simple,” she told Juleka.“And afterwards I’ll kick his butt on Mecha Strike,” she told Alix.Rose perked up.“And I’m sure someone can recommend some flowers I should have in my room.”Rose clapped her hands.

Everyone seemed satisfied.

“Okay,” Alya said.“Sorry I kept you all from Lunch.Thanks for the help.”

Everyone else left.

“So wait,” Alya said.“Every time Alix is challenging Kim…”

“Well, she isn’t following it up with a pickup line,” Marinette said.

“Maybe she needs some pickup line advice,” Alya suggested.

“I’ll send Chat Noir her way,” Marinette said.Even with all of that though, Marinette didn’t think Alix was actually into Kim like that. 

“Oh? Has he been by to visit since my interview?” Alya asked.

Marinette felt herself blush. 

“He has,” Alya exclaimed.“Did he say anything about the podcast?”

“It didn’t come up,” Marinette said.“Can I tell you something off the record?”

Alya groaned.“The best stuff is always off the record.”

“Please?”

“Of course you can tell me something off the record,” Alya said.

“I kissed Chat Noir last night,” Marinette said.

Alya gasped.“What? Wait, you kissed him?”

“I kissed him,” Marinette said.

“But Adrien!”

“I want Adrien, and things couldn’t work out with Chat Noir besides, but… it was just a weird moment.”

“So are you breaking Chat Noir’s heart?” Alya asked.

“I hope not,” Marinette said.“We both agreed a relationship wouldn’t work out.”

“Well, I told you you were flirting with him,” Alya said.

“I know,” Marinette said.

“But you really do like Adrien,” Alya said.

“I really really do,” Marinette said.

“I mean, you could always be a throuple,” Alya said.

“Alya!” Marinette exclaimed.“You literally just called Adrien a sweet summer child.”Though, there was that Chatrien fan art she’d caught him looking at.

“And who better to corrupt him for you than Chat Noir?” Alya asked.

“We are not talking about this,” Marinette said.“Come on, you’ve teased me enough, let’s get lunch.”

“Alright, alright,” Alya said.“Okay, not done teasing.Is Chat Noir a good kisser?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Marinette said.What did she know though? Chat was the only boy she had ever kissed.She imagined kissing Adrien instead.

She was absolutely horrible for imagining both boys on either side of her on a movie date… or maybe they’d take turns on who sat in the middle.

* * *

“Adrien!” Charlemagne said.“So glad you could make time for us today.”

Like he’d cleared his own schedule.

“I was excited to work with you again,” Adrien said.“Father was so happy with what you did for the Toulouse line.”

Charlemagne laughed.“Gabriel hasn’t been satisfied with anyone’s work since he stopped shooting his own designs.Now, we’ve got some good sun, and I want to use it for your active scenes.You’ll be with another boy for those and then you’ll be solo for the rest.”

They were at a gym where they’d commandeered a rooftop basketball court, the Seine in the background.Charlemagne’s assistant, Claire, ushered him to the dressing room, which, in this case, was just the gym’s locker room.One section was set up for changing and the other for hair and makeup. 

“I believe the two of you have worked together before,” Clair said.

“Damien, right?” Adrien asked.He’d been at the formal wear shoot over the weekend and various shoots before that as well.

“Yes, good to work with you again,” Damien said.He was an older boy, by about a year, and he was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome; piercing grey eyes were framed by flawless olive skin. He was also one of the boys he’d worked with who had been part of his bisexual awakening once he’d actually started questioning things.

Claire gave them their outfits and left them to change.Agreste brand didn’t do sports wear (Polo was the exception and they had plenty of things to wear to the top box at the races), but his athleticism was part of Adrien’s brand, so another brand partner was Rhone (for when you wanted to look good covered in sweat).

“Now the question is,” Damien said.“Do they actually want us to look like we’ve been playing?Or is this just sport chic?”

“Do you play?” Adrien asked, untying his shoes.“I’d love some one on one.We could get some really natural shots.”

“Just in gym class,” Damien said.“Nothing but football for me, thank you very much.Used to think I’d get into a top school on a sports scholarship before my knee wrecked that career path.I guess I’m sticking with modeling for now.”

“Oh, sorry,” Adrien said.“Are you going to be alright to move around for the shoot.”

“Oh sure, as long as I’m not running around all day,” Damien said.

“Um, about your career though,” Adrien said. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” Damien said.

“Has it changed since you came out publicly?” Adrien asked, eyes focused on making sure he hung his shirt up properly so it wouldn’t wrinkle while he did the shoot.He still saw Damien look at him speculatively out of the corner of his eye.

“Sure,” Damien said.“Some brands, you need to seem available to the target market, or relatable.Of course we don’t all have brand managers or social media specialists.I was surprised I got a tiny little blurb of an interview in Teen Vogue Paris.Honestly, it wasn’t like I was a household name; most people were never going to pay that much attention to my coming out.”Adrien could hear the, ‘unlike you,’ in there.

“You don’t have a manager?” Adrien asked.

“Of course I have a manager,” Damien said.“Just not a brand manager.He gets me bookings.He got me a role in a pilot actually, but a booking is a booking regardless of whether or not it fits with my brand as far as he’s concerned.”

“A pilot? That’s great,” Adrien said.

Damien laughed.“It didn’t get picked up, but who knows, maybe it floats around and some producer says, ‘that’s the gay best friend I need in my show.’”

“Do you want to get out of modeling?” Adrien asked.

“Oh, the show would have paid more for sure,” Damien said.“Consistency’s nice too.Perks here are nice, though; they don’t pay me enough to afford half the stuff in my closet.I’m just a prop in this shoot, though, so no twenty-five hundred dollar watch for me.Probably wouldn’t have let me keep it anyways, this outfit is nice though.I’ll definitely turn heads while I’m running.”

Adrien froze.“Twenty-five hundred dollars?” he asked.The Seiko had been worth less than half that.“I just suggested going rock-climbing in this thing.” 

“I’m sure they’ll love that,” Damien said. 

Adrien started lacing up the Jordans he’d been given.If they wanted him to actually work up a sweat, he would have liked to have brought some shoes he’d worn in.

“That’s a lovely pendant by the way,” Damien said.“You shouldn’t hide it under your shirt.”

Adrien’s hand shot up to grasp the last thing his mother had ever given him.He tried not to ever bring up his mother with others though.

“Thanks,” Adrien said.He threw on the sports shirt.“It’s not really a part of my approved apparel though, just something I like to keep with me.”

It turned out they weren’t sure how ‘active’ they wanted them to look, so after a few photos of them taking shots at the hoop, jumping around, and running down the court, they sped things up and had the two of them sit in the gym’s sauna for five minutes to look like they’d actually been playing for a while.It felt weird to be in a sauna fully dressed.

It was just the two of them in there. No Gorilla, no cameras, and Damien was a model like him.Adrien could try out some more Chat Noir.

“Well, you’re not bad,” Adrien said, letting in a bit of the carefree and cocky attitude Chat had.

“I’ve been doing this long enough, I should hope not,” Damien said.

“I meant at basketball,” Adrien said.“I wouldn’t mind playing with you some more.”

Damien laughed.“Yes, I can dribble a ball and throw it in the general vicinity of the hoop,” he said, smiling at Adrien.

“And look good doing it,” Adrien said.Damien turned his body just a bit and his smile turned into a bit of a smolder, a classic pose for brands that wouldn’t be interested in them for another couple of years or so.Adrien would have given his normal encouraging smile back, but went for his signature Chat Noir grin.Damien’s smile became more natural.

“So how long have you been doing this?”Adrien asked.

“Modeling? Since I was eleven.Funny t-shirts for back to school.‘Little Brother for Sale,’ that sort of thing.I’d been doing commercials for a couple years before that, mostly background stuff, no speaking roles. What about you?”

“I was four,” Adrien said.

Damien laughed.“Of course.The best dressed four year old in Paris.”

“Still am,” Adrien said, leaning back like he was showing off what he was wearing.

“Still four years old?”

Adrien laughed, and it wasn’t his mild mannered polite Adrien laugh.“Best dressed.”

“Well, right now you’re a sweaty mess,” Damien said.

“I wear it well,” Adrien said.He almost felt relieved that he could all but hear Chat Noir in his voice.“But yeah, it was like you said, I was a prop in one of my mom’s shoots my first time.”

Why had he said that?Damien got that look that people got when his mom came up, probably resisting the urge to ask about her mysterious disappearance.The look that said, ‘change the subject, quick.’

“So do you have a boyfriend?” Adrien asked.

“I had one,” Damien said.“Everyone was advising me to keep it private though, and he thought I was ‘hiding him.’ What about you?”

He had a friend date that he was pretty sure wasn’t really a ‘friend’ date.

“Not quite there yet,” Adrien said.That seemed to peak Damien’s interest and Adrien considered asking how he should handle the not really a date thing, but then the door opened and Claire stuck her head in and looked them over. 

“Can you boys do another few minutes?” she asked.

“I’m sure Adrien will carry me out if I collapse from heat exhaustion,” Damien said.

“Are you both drinking water?”

Adrien held up his sports bottle and Claire let the door close behind her. 

Damien moved to sit next to Adrien.“I suppose you have a lot more brand considerations than I do.”

Adrien looked down at his feet.“You have people advising you, I’ve got people who get to tell me what to do with no exception.” That was probably tone deaf coming from the famous rich kid.“The watch is nice though.”

“I know it’s not easy always having to be careful around everyone,” Damien said.

“I just have to find ways to let off steam now and then,” Adrien said.Like pole vaulting across the rooftops of Paris in the middle of the night.

“I’ll give you my number,” Damien said, putting a hand on his shoulder.“If you ever want to talk about the industry.”

Adrien looked up at him.“Thanks,” he said smiling.“I’d like that.”

Damien smiled back, biting his lip a bit.“But if you wanted to let off a little steam,” he said.“I’d say we’ve got a minute tops.”

Damien was looking at Adrien’s lips.Oh!Adrien looked at Damien’s lips, which were coming closer.The hand on his shoulder went up to the side of his neck and Adrien leaned in, putting his own hand on Damien’s chest.Their knees were touching, and that felt electric for some reason, and Damien’s hand went further back to brush his fingers over the nape of his neck and Adrien made a noise he wasn’t sure you were supposed to be making when you kissed someone, but Damien just leaned into him more.

Then Damien pulled away.“Might want to catch your breath before she comes back,” he said.

“Huh,” Adrien said.

“You alright?”

“Mhmm.”

“Was that alright?” Damien asked.

“Yes,” Adrien said, coming back into himself.“That was… good.I don’t have, like, bruised lips or anything, do I?”

Damien laughed.“We’d need to try a lot harder than that to give you bruised lips.”

Adrien could imagine trying a lot harder than that.

Claire stuck her head back in.“Good,” she said. “You two look ready.”

Adrien laughed.

Later, Charlemagne said he liked the energy in Adrien’s work. 

* * *

“How long will you be gone?” Marinette asked Kagami.As was usual, hanging out meant a FaceTime call.

“Two weeks,” Kagami said.“I will be translating for my mother.”

“It sounds like you will be busy then,” Marinette said. 

“It will be a good experience for me,” Kagami said. 

“Will you be able to see any of the sights?” Marinette asked.

“Shanghai is a beautiful city,” Kagami said, which basically meant no.

“I wish you could come to the dance,” Marinette said.Even if she and Adrien would have gone together regardless, she could have still snuck her in.

“Adrien speaks highly of his friends,” Kagami said.“I would like a chance to meet them.”

“We could do our own dance, or just go out, there’s a ton of dance halls throughout Paris.”

Kagami brightened up a bit but still said in her usual diplomatic tone, “It might be difficult to arrange that.”

“I’ll talk to Adrien,” Marinette said. 

“Have you?” Kagami asked.

Marinette girded herself to tell the story.“I asked him to the dance, but then he was just looking at me with those eyes and I panicked and said ‘as a friend.’ So, I’m going to talk to him again and straighten things out.He said yes, though, and, actually, we sort of asked each other out at the same time.”

Kagami nodded, as if it were all a matter of course.“You have every reason to be able to speak to him with confidence,” she said, and it made Marinette’s heart flutter just a bit.She wasn’t sure if it was for Kagami or for Adrien.

“Have you ever been to a dance?” Marinette asked. 

“I’ve attended a wedding where there was dancing,” Kagami said.“But I did not dance.It would not have looked dignified since I did not know how.”

Looking dignified wasn’t the point, Marinette thought, or maybe it was in the circles Kagami’s family surrounded themselves with.

“I could teach you,” Marinette said.Or maybe some day she could just have Kagami over and they’d put on music and Marinette would tell her to just move however her body wanted to move.

“I would appreciate that,” Kagami said.“Show me the drawing again, it looks very good.”

Marinette showed her the latest refinement of her designs for Jagged Stone.

“How much have they told you about the music?” Kagami asked.

“Not much,” Marinette said.“And I’m not supposed to say anything about what they have told me.”

“It looks good,” Kagami said.“And I will trust that it fits with the guidelines you have been given.I will enjoy watching this video.”

Marinette wasn’t sure if Kagami had ever listened to a single Jagged Stone song. 

“This is okay, isn’t it?” Marinette asked.

“I said it was,” Kagami said.“You are very talented.”

“I meant with Adrien,” Marinette said.

Kagami hesitated.“I said it was,” she said.“Besides, you have already asked him out.Adrien is my friend, and so are you.I would like you to have a good time.”

Marinette imagined once more, herself at the movies sitting in between Chat and Adrien, only this time Kagami was there too.

“Did you hear Chat Noir’s interview on the Ladyblog?” Marinette asked.

“I read about the relevant points,” Kagami said.

“What did you think?” Marinette asked.

“I thought he was fortunate to be in a position to do that and to have so much support.”

Marinette smiled.“I thought so too.”

They both paused as alerts went off on their phones.

“An Akuma,” Marinette said.Hawkmoth always interrupted at the worst times.“I should go.”

They ended the call and Marinette left to go do her thing.

She wasn’t exactly thrilled that it was Mr. Ramier being akumatized again that had interrupted them, and poor Chat Noir with his allergies.As she’d initially made her way towards the battle, she’d almost hoped for an excuse to call in Ryuko.The battle was quick though, and Marinette thought perhaps that Hawkmoth was just warming up.Chat didn’t even have to use his Cataclysm.

“I’ll mark this end,” Marinette said when it was all over.“Follow it till it stops.”

Chat gave her a salute and off he went.Ladybug geotagged her location, helped Mr. Ramier to the nearest bus stop, and then found a secluded spot to wait for her transformation to time out.She called Chat.

“Is it going in a straight line?” Marinette asked.

“It sure is, but I’m tagging every couple of blocks,” Chat said.“How much time do you have?”

“Two minutes,” Marinette said.“So did you ask her out?”

“I did,” Chat said, his braggadocios voice faltered at a sneeze.

“Well, I suppose you win then,” Marinette said.Asking Adrien out on a friend date didn’t really count, and it had been a tie anyway.

“You didn’t ask him out?” Chat asked.

“He asked me, actually,” Marinette said.

“Well then he has good sense,” Chat said.“I approve.”

“Too bad I can’t tell him he has the Chat Noir seal of approval,” Marinette said.“Tell me how it went when you asked her out.”

“Well, I must confess My Lady, she did ask if we could go as friends,” Chat said. 

What a coincidence.

“Are you disappointed?” Marinette asked.

“No,” Chat said.“But, okay, I need you to tell me if I messed up or not.”

“Okay.”

“So, she said ‘as friends,’ but I think we could maybe be more than just friends, but then this afternoon this boy kissed me, and I definitely kissed him back.”

“So, do you want to go with him instead?” Marinette asked.

“No,” Chat said.“I don’t even know him that well.We were just talking, and maybe we got some wires crossed, because I think I might have given him the impression I was into him, and we don’t even go to the same school, but he was really cute and nice and it just felt right at the time, but now I feel like I’m cheating on her.”

“You’re not even dating her yet,” Marinette said.She wouldn’t say anything about the flirtatious Chat Noir accidentally ‘crossing wires’ with this other boy.“Much less agreed to be her boyfriend, kitty cat.”

“Well, yeah,” Chat said.“I don’t know.First I’m kissing this one girl last night, and then I’m asking her out this morning and then I’m kissing Damien.My head’s all over the place.”

“Wait, you asked out the girl you kissed yesterday?” Marinette asked, her brain going a mile a minute.

“Oh, no, haha,” Chat said.“See, I can’t even keep it all straight in my head.”

It was a ridiculous idea anyway. 

“Well, you aren’t straight in the first place,” Marinette said.“Just try to make sure you don’t mix up and take the wrong girl to the dance.”She could just imagine walking in with Adrien on one arm and Chat Noir on the other.He could never know she’d had such thoughts.

“How have you been doing, figuring things out in the straight or straightn’tdepartment?”

Marinette laughed.“Is it possible to be straight but also into just one girl?”

Chat seemed to think about it.“So I’ve been reading,” he said. 

“Yeah?”

“Apparently, some people only develop an attraction to someone after they’ve developed an emotional attachment to them first.”

“But I’m not like that with boys,” Marinette said.

“Maybe you are with girls,” Chat said.

“Huh,” Marinette said.

“I don’t know,” Chat said.“Just something to think about.”

“My time’s almost up,” Marinette said.

“I’ll let you know- Oh, it stopped.”

“Where?”

“Someone has a flower pot on their balcony, I’ll send you all the geotags,” Chat said.

Her transformation ended there.

“Marinette?” Tiki prompted her.She’d been spacing out a bit.

“Oh, sorry Tiki, here, Egyptian butter cookies,” Marinette said, opening her purse.

“Is everything okay?” Tiki asked.

“My love life is weird,” Marinette said.

* * *

“Your love life is weird, kid,” Plagg said.

“But I do have a love life,” Adrien said before sighing.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Plagg asked.

“I can still screw things up,” Adrien said.“And I still need to let Nathalie know.”

“That you made out with a stranger in a sauna?” Plagg asked.

“Damien’s not a stranger,” Adrien said.“I mean, I don’t know him that well, but I do know him.”

“Yeah, you know he has a six pack,” Plagg said.

Adrien blushed.Damien did have a six pack, but Ladybug kicked butt and was strong in a way that didn’t show in muscles, andMarinette was sweet and kind; she was so creative, and she was a firebrand in her own right.Marinette, who reminded him of the parts of fashion he actually loved.Marinette, who had a crush on him.Marinette, who liked both sides of him.

She did like both sides of him, and with her, when they were alone, maybe he could be a bit more of himself, not Adrien and not Chat Noir- himself, whoever that was.Maybe he’d just stop trying to _be_ someone.If Marinette liked both, then hopefully she would like the boy they had been drawn from.He’d been so worried about breaking her heart, he hadn’t really thought about what he really felt for her, how she made him feel. 

A knock at his door interrupted his musings and a couple of moments later Nathalie stuck her head in.“You’re late for dinner,” she said.

Adrien checked his watch.“Sorry,” he said.“I was distracted.”Plagg had already zoomed into his chest when Nathalie had knocked so Adrien made his way down to the dining room.

“Is the rest of the week free for school?” Adrien asked.

“Nothing is on your schedule for now,” Nathalie said.Of course Adrien’s schedule could always be changed at the last minute for the company.“There is however a board of directors meeting this evening; your father would like you to listen in.”

“Tonight?” Adrien asked.Usually board meetings were on Mondays. 

“It has to do with your father’s most recent trip,” Nathalie said. 

Probably a merger or an acquisition if Nathalie was being so vague about it.If Father actually spoke about his trip then it would be the first time Adrien would hear his voice since the aborted recital, since he had realized that his father didn’t so much care about him as he cared about Adrien’s role in carrying on his legacy.

“Piano?” Adrien asked.

Nathalie seemed to consider it.“There will be time to practice after the meeting,” she said almost apologetically.

There went his whole evening.He was tempted to read fan fiction during the meeting, but Nathalie would likely quiz him later.Not to worry though, that would fit into his schedule too.

“So you said my schedule was clear for the Spring Formal,” Adrien said.

“Nothing of a higher priority has superseded it at this time,” Nathalie said.

“Well, I consider it a high priority now,” Adrien said as they got to the dining room.“I asked someone to go with me.”

Nathalie looked at him as he sat down.“You should have talked to me about that before hand.”

“The moment felt right,” Adrien said.“Father would absolutely approve.She won his derby hat competition and he featured her design even.”

“Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Nathalie said.“I’m sure there is nothing… objectionable about her.What of Miss Tsurugi?”

“Kagami’s going to be out of town,” Adrien said. 

“But does she know you will be taking another girl to the dance?” Nathalie asked.

Adrien frowned.“We aren’t dating,” he said.He knew they’d been pushed together, but he hoped his pushback wouldn’t see more blatant suggestions.“We’re friends, and Marinette is a friend.We’re just going as friends, but it’s not like I can stand her up.That would look terrible.”

“I see,” Nathalie said.“And you don’t have romantic feelings for this girl?”

“No,” Adrien lied.Less chance of interference.“When would I have time for romance anyway.” 

“I’ll ask Social Media to send you some guidelines.”Of course.“And I will consider your schedule carefully if something should come up.”

“I’ll be wearing the new line,” Adrien said.“It’ll be good to get some media of me wearing it outside of a photo shoot, and I don’t want to throw Marinette out to the hounds, so I wasn’t planning on making a big deal of anything on Instagram.”

“I’ll still have to run this by your father,” Nathalie said.

Certainly not so Adrien could get some sort of father son talk before he took a girl out for the first time.He didn’t bother trying to convince her not to.Nothing that could affect the brand could be kept from Father.

“What if I’d asked a boy out instead?” Adrien asked.

Nathalie paused.“There might be some other considerations,” she said diplomatically.“Did you want to-“

“No,” Adrien said quickly.“I was just wondering.One of the boys in my class is taking his boyfriend.I just wondered how that might affect my brand, hypothetically.There’s been a lot of talk since Chat Noir came out.”

“Well, I don’t think I can answer your question,” Nathalie said.“There are multiple people who consult on your brand.”

“And if they decided I should be straight, that would be that?” Adrien asked.

“Adrien, we can have that conversation with them if you’d like,” Nathalie said.“If you’re gay-“

“I’m not,” Adrien said, but he couldn’t tell her he was bi either. Anything affecting his brand went to his father.“Maybe it occurred to me that there could come a time when I did have feelings for someone, and my brand manager might not think we fit in the eyes of the public.” 

“I’m sure that won’t be an issue,” Nathalie said.“Your dinner is getting cold, and you have a schedule to keep.”She walked towards the entry hall, but stopped at the door.“It appears a rock climbing photo shoot will fit easily enough into your schedule.”

“A photo shoot?” Adrien asked.He’d just wanted a picture for instagram.Scratch that, he’d just wanted to go and hoped an instagram post was the bare minimum excuse for it.

“There will be time for you to engage recreationally,” Nathalie said.“With Mr. Lahiffe.”

“Thanks Nathalie,” Adrien said.

“That will likely be the last opportunity for extraneous activities until the end of Fashion Week,” Nathalie said as she left the room.

Fashion Week… It would be his first time balancing school, Akumas, and Fashion Week all at once, and everything else that was on his schedule.If it was only one week, that would be one thing, but for the people who were a part of it, Fashion Week started before it actually started.That was something to talk to Ladybug about… Could he just leave it to someone else to watch her back?He needed some prearranged excuses, something to get him out of just about anything.Everyone’s phone giving out the Akuma Alert was often enough for Adrien to slip away, but nothing stopped Fashion Week, especially if he would be in Milan where there shouldn’t be any Akumas.

Rock climbing though, it was still a win, and Nino had never gone before.Although, who knew how long a photoshoot might over run when equipment had to be brought up a trail, and the lighting had to be just so.An instagram photo would have been great.That’s what cellphones were for.Who knew though, maybe Adrien wouldn’t have to worry about any of it, because Nathalie was about to tell Father that Adrien was gay and his schedule would suddenly go into crisis lockdown mode.Even if she didn’t, he still had to worry about Father deciding Adrien shouldn’t be trusted to take a girl out to a dance and not cause a scandal. 

Adrien found he wasn’t really hungry and only got half way before he had to go listen in to the board meeting.The great mystery?Tsurugi Industries had created a new fabric and Agreste brand had bought exclusive rights to use it for a year.They’d be the ones to introduce it to the fashion world.The trip to China had been to ensure a factory that could produce it while protecting the proprietary elements of its creation. 

Father sounded so proud of the deal and the quick spin up at the factory, and then he sounded demanding as he instructed large changes for different departments and expectations for when preliminary designs should be ready.He never acknowledged that Adrien was on the call, not that he ever had before. 

Adrien wasn’t really feeling the Revolutionary Etude that night and wound up getting stuck on one of the early cross-rhythms he’d already been comfortable with.He finished unsatisfied with the whole thing.With the last bit of his night, Adrien went online and scrolled through some fics.When he had first discovered that people shipped Adrien with Chat Noir and wrote stories about them, he’d discovered that stories about the two of them were fairly numerous compared to most other stories about real world people.At the top (on the website he frequented) was, of all things, men’s hockey players; there were over twenty-five thousand stories there.But Adrien didn’t think it fair to compare himself to an entire league of people.Adrien was oddly proud (and when he actually thought about it, disturbed) of the two thousand plus stories he’d had to his name, between both Adrien and Chat Noir, and the vast majority of them devoted to their ship. 

He’d actually gone back to the beginning of it all.Everything was marked chronologically, and he could actually see the slow start of the fandom, and he could also see when it had exploded not too long before he had first googled Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir together.There seemed to be one story, that several people credited in their own stories, that seemed to have drawn in the fandom, and more importantly, wholesale started the Adrien-needs-to-be-rescued-from-an-emotionally-cold-house genre of the fandom. It actually was a really good story, horribly inaccurate though, both in matters of Adrien’s daily life and of the Miraculous, but it had stirred something in Adrien.It also might have been the first to have Adrien’s dad be Hawkmoth.

Nothing was really popping out at him that night, though, as he scrolled through summaries and tags.He went to bed feeling a bit off on the whole day.Two steps forward and one step back, but where was he going in the first place? 

“You awake?” he asked Plagg.

No.

He was a bit restless trying to get to sleep, thoughts going through his head of things he wanted to say to his father, of running away, of coming out on instagram, of Marinette being as comfortable around Adrien as she was around Chat Noir.When he fell asleep though, he dreamed about Damien and the sauna, and about having just a bit more time.Not enough time though, because the Akuma alert went off just when things were getting interesting.Jumping out of bed, Adrien ran to his fridge, shoved a wheel of cheese in his pajama pocket and transformed.He’d better not get cheese on his Miraculous pajamas.Or anything else for that matter.Hawk Moth had a lot to answer for, not least of all waking him up from his dream.

Adrien arrived first.“One step forward.”And found an Akuma who had, from the sound of things, walked in on her fiancé having an affair.Her power?Everyone she zapped with her ray gun, shaped vaguely like an engagement ring, became absolutely devoted to her.Adrien darted in a few times to test her reactions and got the usual megalomaniacal hand-over-your-Miraculus spiel.

“What have we got?” Ladybug asked. 

“I think her adoring public might be a bit of a hinderance to her,” Adrien said.“She’s land locked, and so far they haven’t done anything but get in her way, she doesn’t use her surroundings very well.Pretty sure the Akuma is in the ray gun.”

“Good work,” Ladybug said.“Do me a favor, go and play hide and seek among her fans.This street runs over the sewer; when I give the signal, get rid of the entire surface.”

“Black cats live for chaos, Bugaboo,” Adrien said, and with a two finger salute he dove into the crowd, teasing and taunting the Akuma while always staying out of reach.At the word go, Adrien yelled out “Cataclysm,” as loudly as he could, ensuring that the Akuma’s eyes would be towards him as he took off the top of the street, exposing the wide duct below.He escaped the plunge with his baton and vaulted up to the sidewalk in time to see Ladybug catch the disoriented Akuma in her yoyo.Moments later, a wash of ladybugs set everything to right, and Ladybug left to take the victim home while Adrien chased after the butterfly. 

Ladybug called him as he was heading home. 

“How did it go?” She asked. 

“The two I’ve gone after have traveled in a straight line at first,” Adrien said.“I think there might be something to it.”

“Same here,” Ladybug said.“Sleep tight, Chatton.”

A bit late for the night of sleep Adrien had been robbed of.

“You too, My Lady,” Adrien said.“Hey, do you think if Paris put an embargo on all coffee that Hawkmoth would go to bed on time like a good little boy?”

“Chat Noir, if you take away my coffee, I, and the rest of Paris, will all become super villains, and we wouldn’t need any Akumas.”

Adrien laughed.“You would be terrifying, My Lady.”He landed back in his room, his ring giving it’s final warning.“I cannot wait to patrol with you tomorrow night.”With that the call ended as he lost the transformation.He took the cheese out of his pocket for Plagg. 

“My love life would be a lot simpler if Ladybug wasn’t so awesome,” Adrien said.

Plagg laughed around a mouthful of cheese and a big waft of it went into Adrien’s face.

“It wasn’t Ladybug’s name you were saying before that Akuma got you up,” Plagg said.

Adrien groaned.He didn’t know what he’d do without Plagg, but sometimes the general lack of privacy wasn’t great.“That’s different,” Adrien said.“It’s not like I’m pining after him.”In another life though, if he’d never gotten to go to school, never become Chat Noir, was still insulated in his little modeling world, he could easily see himself developing feelings for Damien.“I should find a way to spend more time with Marinette.”Something else to eke out a bit more freedom for.

“Go nuts kid,” Plagg said.“I’m going back to sleep, so if you have any more dreams about your new friend, try to keep them to yourself.”

The next morning, Adrien didn’t ask Plagg about anything he may or may not have said in his sleep.He was determined though that he would spend time with Marinette.He was still thinking a bit about Damien, though, and it occurred to him to wonder if Damien was thinking about him. 

If Nathalie was still thinking about the disastrous conversation they’d had the night before, she didn’t say anything.Adrien was still left wondering if she’d say anything to his father.She went over his schedule.It was a bit early, but he had his first Fashion Week fitting that evening. 

He pulled out his phone when he got into the car to go to school

Adrien: Thanks for talking to me about everything yesterday.

He didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

Damien: NP, I don’t normally have that much fun at a shoot ;)

Adrien: I had fun too :)

Adrien: But about that, I did want to be a bit more upfront though.

Damien: Relax I didn’t think you were going to become my BF or anything

Oh.

Adrien: That actually does make things easier. 

Damien: I was wondering though

Damien: Was that your first kiss?

Adrien: That bad?

Damien: Lol no, but the look on your face after

Adrien: Ha ha.First kiss with a boy.Third kiss in total. 

Adrien: Though my first kiss was something I was in the middle of when an Akuma got cleansed.I have no memory of what led up to it.No complaints though.The second time, I actually knew I was flirting before hand.

Damien: Yikes that’s one of the better Akuma stories I’ve heard

Damien: Nothing interesting ever happens to me

Damien: I mean who hasn’t joined some Akuma’s zombie army

Adrien: Most of my class has been Akumatized.We’re pretty sure there’s a curse or something. 

Damien: Lol that’s crazy. 

Damien: Wait… ‘I actually knew I was flirting before hand’… were you not flirting with me???

Adrien: Not on purpose, I don’t think.Definitely enjoyed the crossed wires though.

He almost wrote out ‘you were in my dreams last night,’ but he started blushing furiously just thinking about it.What if Damien asked what he had dreamed about him?

Adrien: Actually, what I wanted to be up front about was that there’s this girl I like, I’m hoping she’ll be my girlfriend.

He was still hinting around his sexuality.It was still weird just saying it.

Damien: You mean we don’t get you to ourselves?

He should just say it.

Adrien: Ha ha.I’m bi.The only person I’ve told that to is my best friend though.

The only person he’d told as Adrien.Chat got to tell the whole world about it.

Damien: I won’t tell.This another model?

Adrien: Classmate.Turns out I’m the last person in my class to know she has a crush on me.

Damien: LOL :)

Damien: That’s adorbs

Adrien: Sort of intimidating, because what if I break her heart?But then it sort of hit me like a ton of bricks that I’ve always admired her so I’m going for it.

Damien: She okay with the spotlight?

Adrien: Something else I’m worried about.She helped me hide out from my fan club once though.

Damien: #SupermodelProblems

Adrien: Pretend I pasted in a gif of Edna Mode talking about supermodels.

Adrien: Hey, are you doing fashion week?

Damien: Ugh nightmare week I’ve got it pretty chill though.Some of the students at Syndicale are presenting on one of the smaller venues.I’ve got five outfits over three nights.

Adrien: That’s great!I think it’d be awesome to work with students. 

Damien: Great, let me bottle your enthusiasm and it’ll get me through the week.

Adrien: Do you have a lot of prep?

Damien: I have a lot of homework. Managed to schedule everyone so I just have to go in once for a fitting and then again to try everything on in the week prior. 

Damien: Experience tells me there will be emergency that will require me to go in several more times.

Adrien: There’s always something.I’ve got a fitting tonight.

Damien: Still, can’t complain about a trip to Milan.Here’s hoping I see you there.

Adrien: Same!

Adrien: I’m at school, ttyl.

Damien: Laters :)

Adrien felt better after the text.Damien wasn’t expecting anything and he was cool to talk with and he was probably a friend now.He still wasn’t sure where he was going, but it felt like a step forward.Next, he was going to talk to Marinette, then that night he was going to figure out with Ladybug if they actually had a lead on Hawkmoth.

* * *

She was Ladybug.She fought supervillains multiple times every week.She had personally saved Adrien from Akumas.She’d even asked him out on a (friend) date the day before.She could definitely go talk to him and invite him over.

“Good morning Marinette.”

Marinette jumped and spun around.“Adrien!”Her heart was already pounding in her chest.He’d caught her off guard.

“I’m sorry,” Adrien said.“I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Right,” Marinette said.She could recover this.“It’s alright.I wanted to talk to you about the dance.”

“Me too,” Adrien said.“I’m really looking forward to going with you.”

Marinette had to take a pause.“That’s great.We should get together to talk about what we’ll wear.”

“Good idea,” Adrien said.“How about you come over for lunch tomorrow?”

That was soon.“Tomorrow? I- Yes, lunch- tomorrow,” Marinette said. 

“Great,” Adrien said, smiling brightly at her.“It’s a date.”

“A date,” Marinette said.Do not say friend, do not say friend.“I look forward to it.Speaking of- getting together though.Did you maybe want to come over some time to watch a movie?”

Adrien looked thoughtful.“I do want to,” he said.“It would have to be soon though, if it’s going to fit in my schedule at all.Fashion Week is coming up.”

“Fashion Week, yes, I can’t wait, I follow it every year,” Marinette said.

Adrien smiled again and leaned in a bit closer.“Well, I hope you’ll be following me this year.”

“Definitely,” Marinette said.“I mean, I always follow Agreste brand.My gosh, you’re going to be so busy, aren’t you.”

Adrien laughed.“A bit, I suppose, but I can’t wait.And I can’t wait till I’m following you during fashion week.”

“Me? Oh, I don’t know.I’ll probably keep you waiting.”

“I doubt that,” Adrien said.“I was really impressed by that hoodie.I wear it all the time at home.I turned down the thermostat in my room just so I have an excuse.”

Adrien was out to kill her, every word felt heavy with expectation and faith she didn’t deserve.She didn’t say anything for a bit so Adrien filled the silence.

“You should follow Syndicale,” he said.“I hear they have some good designs to show off.”

“Oh, I do, yes,” Marinette said.It was one of the schools she had her eye on.“It’s great you follow student designers.I guess your dad’s always on the lookout.”

Adrien blushed and somehow managed to look so pretty when he did it. 

“Were you planning to design something for the dance?” Adrien asked.

“Is that alright?” Marinette asked.

“Of course,” Adrien said.“Unless you’d like to wear something from the Spring collection.”

Marinette certainly did not own any Agreste dresses.

“I…” She had multiple warring impulses.“Might have a large commission coming up.I have some designs in mind I think would work for the dance, but I’m not sure I’ll have the time.”

“Well, either way, I’d love to see your designs,” Adrien said. 

She suddenly felt like the next day’s lunch would be a job interview.“I can’t wait.”

Adrien smiled at her.“I’ll talk to Nathalie about a movie night.May I walk you to class?”

“I’d love that, I mean, I’d like that,” Marinette said.

Adrien very casually reached out and took Marinette’s hand and started walking to class.Marinette was absolutely speechless, staring at the fingers wrapped around her hand, feeling his soft skin against her own.Adrien was saying something, but Marinette had no idea what.She had fallen under his spell.She hadn’t expected it.

“Adrichat!” Marinette said, the only counter to the hold he had over her.

Suddenly it was Adrien’s turn to be speechless.

“Um, people write about you,” Marinette said.“It doesn’t seem appropriate.”

“Haha, I know,” Adrien said.“It’s a bit weird I suppose.People can get a bit too into it I suppose.”

“Does it bother you?” Marinette asked.

“I was a bit horrified at first.I don’t know.Maybe it should bother me, but it doesn’t really,” Adrien said.“I’ve actually looked through some of it.But yeah, some people can get a bit… inappropriate.”

The rosy tinge to his cheeks and his bashful smile made him look more innocent, even though she knew he’d looked at some of the ‘inappropriate’ images.Unless there was another level she was unaware of.In the end, though, he was just a teen like her, still figuring things out.Maybe he was exploring his identity through stories online like Chat was.Had anyone written any stories about Ryuko and Ladybug?It was Adrien, though, who was holding her hand.

“Do you have to worry about your fans being… inappropriate when you travel?” Marinette said.“Will you be okay in Milan?”She still felt weird thinking about the swarm of fans that had chased them that one time.

“I’ll be fine,” Adrien said.“Besides, I won’t have much time to wander around while I’m there anyway.We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but it will be worth it.”

Marinette felt the eyes of some of her classmates on her as she walked into class holding Adrien’s hand. 

“Looks like you’ve got this, girl,” Alya said as she sat down next to her.

Maybe she did.

* * *

“Tell me you’ve got the afternoon off on Saturday,” Adrien said, turning to Nino as soon as class let out.

“Can you hang out? Dude that’s awesome,” Nino said.

“I asked Nathalie if we could go rock climbing at Fontainebleau, and she said yes,” Adrien said.

“That sounds like so much fun,” Nino said.

“Also there’s going to be a photoshoot there,” Adrien said.

“Less awesome, but I’ll take it,” Nino said.“But hey, do you have time to talk this evening?”

Adrien shook his head.“I’ve got a fitting that’s probably going to run late and then I’ve still got all my homework.”

“I’ve just felt like there’s something you’ve been wanting to talk about,” Nino said.

“Right,” Adrien said.“Yeah, I do, just some other time.”

“Whenever you want, bro,” Nino said.

“I’ve got to run,” Adrien said.

“Have fun,” Nino said.

“I can’t wait to see what they have for me,” he said, because Adrien™ was always on.

Fittings of course were the least fun part of being a model.It started with getting measurements and Sinclair always had to get each measurement in a bunch of different positions. 

Sinclair raised up Adrien’s arm and stretched the measuring tape around his bicep.

“Any bigger from last month?” Adrien asked.

“I’d have to check your previous measurements,” he said.“Turn,” he nudged Adrien’s shoulder so he could get a measurement of Adrien’s shoulders.“Shoulders forward,” another measurement.“Shoulders back,” another measurement.Then both his arms went up for a measurement around his chest.“Deep breath in.”

Then came various fittings.

“Are you done with him yet?” Ms. Adelaide asked.She’d brought in a number of items.

“Almost,” Sinclair said, wrapping the tape around Adrien’s throat.

Soon Adrien was trying on a bunch of clothes for Ms. Adelaide to pin and mark.She kept smoothing things down and adjusting them while he held different poses.Eventually it was over and Adrien was able to get dressed and follow the Gorilla out to the car.Dinner was waiting for him in the car.It was already late and he’d need to start on his homework as soon as he got home; his tutor could only be on call so late.

Adrien noticed that the car hadn’t started.

“Is everything alright?” Adrien asked, not expecting an answer.A moment later though, the door opposite Adrien opened up and Father got into the car.

“Father,” Adrien said.“I didn’t know you were here.”Father hardly ever worked outside of the house.

“Adrien,” Father said.The Gorilla started the car and they took off.Maybe father had gone to the office just to catch Adrien on his way home.

It was a bit late in the evening.“Nathalie sent me some dinner, did you want to share?”

Father looked at him like he was offering him street food.Adrien turned back towards the front of the car and started eating.

“Did you want to hear about my science project?” Adrien asked.

“You shouldn’t talk while you eat,” Father said.

“Sorry, Father,” Adrien said.

Adrien ate in silence as they drove through the city.Alexi, their chef, had made him a ‘power greens’ salad with chopped boiled chicken on top.Adrien didn’t know how Alexi did it but it was good, it just didn’t satisfy him like a buttery pastry fresh from the bakery would.When he was done he placed the container next to him on the seat in-between them and turned ever so slightly towards his father who was drawing out a woman in a cream colored dress on his tablet.The woman’s face lacked features, but Adrien knew it was his mom.

Father seemed to notice Adrien’s gaze and the screen went dark.

“It looked good Father,” Adrien said.

“It was inconsequential,” Father said.He sighed.“Tell me about your science project.”

Adrien smiled, Father would like it. It was essentially a project showing how heat was retained in a closed system (basically a glass sphere) when different concentrations of greenhouse gases were present. Designing the experiment to eliminate outside factors had been difficult, but things were starting to come together.

“I will be pleased if you do well,” Father said.They’d pulled up to the front of the house.

Adrien’s heart swelled in his chest.“I won’t disappoint you, Father.” For just a moment.“If you have time-“

“I don’t,” Father said.

“Oh, I’m glad we were able to ride home together,” Adrien said. 

“I am too,” Father said. 

Adrien smiled at him.He knew that that was it, so he gathered his to-go box and his back pack and turned to exit the car, but he stopped when he felt his father’s hand on his shoulder.He turned back.He saw his father’s arm outstretched, and for just a moment, he thought his father was going to hug him.He leaned forward but stopped as his father’s hand on his shoulder tightened just slightly.

“You know you’re important to me,” Father said.“I expect a lot from you because I care a lot about your future.”

Adrien felt charged, like he’d just transformed into Chat Noir for the first time.So they weren’t a hugging family, so what; father still found ways to show that he cared.

“I understand Father, I appreciate the opportunities you give me.”He might be at arms length, but he could put all of his love for his father into a smile.

“I understand you’ve asked one of your classmates to a dance,” Father said.

“Yes,” Adrien said.This might be awkward, but father actually wanted to have some sort of talk about Adrien growing up.“Marinette, she won your derby hat contest.She’s a good friend.”

“Against my better judgement,” Father said, suddenly very severe.“I have decided to allow this.You will take her to the dance, you will behave in a manner befitting an Agreste, and then you will take her home and that will be it.You will not be dating this girl.”

Something inside of him that should have already died withered.He didn’t even care if Adrien had feelings for her or not.

“Father, I wasn’t planning to,” Adrien said.“But she really is a- a very respectable girl Father.She’s ambitious and driven, and she has the respect of some of Paris’s best artists.”

“I do not trust you to be dating just anyone yet,” Father said.

“I thought, perhaps, that you might have been intending for me to date Kagami,” Adrien said.

“I trust Miss Tsurugi to understand how to prioritize her future,” Father said.“Have I made myself clear?”

No.

“Yes, Father,” Adrien said. 

“Good,” Father said.“Do not rush your homework just because you have had a long evening.”

With that, Adrien was alone in the car.He stepped out and the Gorilla was waiting for him.Adrien didn’t move for a bit and the Gorilla took his backpack in one hand and the other one was planted between Adrien’s shoulder blades, guiding him up the steps.He left Adrien at the door to his bedroom and no sooner had the door closed than Plagg zoomed out and flopped into Adrien’s hair. 

“Grab some chocolate while you get me my cheese,” Plagg said.

“I’m fine Plagg,” Adrien said, heading to the fridge. 

“No, you’re not,” Plagg said.

“Fine, I’m an idiot,” Adrien said.

“My chosen aren’t idiots,” Plagg said.

“Fine, a fool then,” Adrien said, passing up an offering to the god making a nest in his hair.

“Because you tried to have a normal conversation with ol’ Gabe?”

“Because I just went back to thinking I could fix everything,” Adrien said.“Because I thought he might want to hug me.Because I thought maybe I was wrong about everything, but I wasn’t.”

Plagg left his hair and flew into Adrien’s fridge and pulled out the bar of Chocolate.

“Don’t expect any words of wisdom,” Plagg said.“Sugar Cube, I’m sure, would say something about love and blah blah blah.I’ll just say your dad’s a dick, you’re my chosen, and if you don’t eat some chocolate I’m going to Cataclysm your dad’s entire wardrobe.”

“I shouldn’t,” Adrien said.“I need to be careful after a fitting, this is an important event.”

“You need to do something,” Plagg said.“I could give you some alone time.”

“Oh my god,” Adrien said.He snatched the chocolate bar out of the air.“I have homework to do anyway, and then I’m meeting Ladybug.She’ll cheer me up.”

He took a bite of chocolate and just let it melt in his mouth.He put the rest back in the fridge.He had to finish his homework before it was time to go see Ladybug.He was distracted through most of it, and had to call his tutor just to make sure he wasn’t turning in anything subpar.Finally though, it was time to see his Lady.He grabbed some items he’d ordered online, transformed, and jumped out his window.

* * *

Marinette was nervous.As she swung through Paris, she let herself hope just a little that she was about to make a big break in the search for Hawkmoth.Chat had done some research on using maps, and they should have more than enough points to find and verify an intersection.Of course, they could just have a whole lot of nothing.

Chat Noir was already waiting for her on the rooftop where they were meeting.She took one look at him and knew instantly that something was wrong.As soon as he noticed her arrival though the mask went up; he perked up, his shoulders went back, but she could still see it in his eyes.She went right up to him and wrapped him up in a hug.He didn’t question it.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

Chat shook his head.

“Come on,” Marinette said.“Hawkmoth can wait five minutes.”

It was easy enough to find a café.Chat soaked up the attention and Marinette got hot coco and some chocolate croissants and they went back up to their rooftop. 

“This is so rich,” Chat said, sipping on his hot chocolate.

“One time, my mom tried making hot chocolate with melted ice cream,” Marinette said.“Just an experiment, but that might have tasted too rich.” 

Chat just smiled at her for a moment before he grabbed the bag he’d brought with him.He pulled out a map, a ruler and some square of clear plastic with triangles cut out of it and all sorts of markings.

“Ready to find Hawk Moth?” Chat asked.

Marinette nodded, putting her coco aside.Chat spread out the map on the rooftop.

“Alright, this is a grid map, it’s basically designed for what we’re doing.” He held up the clear plastic square.“This is a protractor, which will let us plot the exact coordinates, and then all we have to do is connect the dots.”

“Right,” Marinette said.“I have the coordinates.”

It turned out that the GPS on her yoyo used a different coordinate system, but there was a website that made it easy enough to convert them.They sprawled out on the rooftop and spread the map out.It was tedious work, plotting all of the points.They’d chased down eight butterflies, and taken several sample points along their flight.Things became pretty clear after the fourth one but neither of them said anything.They just continued plotting all of them.

“I guess that’s that then,” Marinette said.

“I’m not sure,” Chat said.

“They’re all over the place,” Marinette said.“Even if they are flying away from Hawkmoth, it seems like he might be releasing them from points all around the city.”

Chat shook his head.“Then we’d be getting angles all over the place.There’d be convergences all over the place.Every vector intersects every other vector inside of Paris, inside a- well, most of them inside of a one kilometer radius.They’re all flying in a straight line at first and they’re all flying away from this, well, rather large area here.”

“Did we do it wrong then?” Marinette asked.“You said being off by a little bit could move things off by a lot when you drew the line out.”

Chat rolled over onto his back.“The last five at least, I know we were doing it right, we got all those samples and the GPS should have been accurate.”

“Then I guess, maybe the butterflies are flying away from Hawkmoth but they only have a vague direction.”

Chat nodded.“That’s probably it.We can keep collecting points.We might narrow it down a bit more.That’s got to be helpful at least, and hey, that school’s right here near the middle.I think we’re doing something right.”

Marinette nodded.Chat rolled back over and folded up the map.He used the fine tipped marker they’d been using to plot on the map and drew a quick little cat face and a ladybug next to the legend.“Do you want to take it with you?” Chat asked.“You’ll probably think of something.”

She felt confident she could continue adding vectors to the map without Chat’s help.She stuffed the map and protractor into her yoyo. 

“At the very least, we can say with some certainty that Hawkmoth is somewhere in this area.” Chat said.

“We’ll talk to the police,” Marinette said.

Chat frowned.“They’re pretty political; they’re desperate to say they’ve got a lead.We don’t want them giving Hawkmoth any hints about what we’re doing.”

“DGSI then?” Marinette asked. 

Chat nodded.“At least they can tell us if we’re doing this right.”

“Alright,” Marinette said.“Can you come with me on Saturday?”

Chat shook his head.“I’ll actually be a bit outside Paris for most of the day” he said.“That reminds me though, a week from Monday, I’m going to start being pretty busy, and then the week after that I’m going to be out of the country.I think you should give Carapace his Miraculous for the duration.He can protect you.”

“A whole week?” Marinette asked.

Chat nodded.

“Wayzz is the guardian’s Kwami,” Marinette said. 

“Viperion?”

“Manipulating time should be done sparingly,” Marinette said.“I’ll go with Ryuko.”

“Hawkmoth knows her identity,” Adrien said.“The moment he realizes she’s showing up too early to the scene he’s going to know where a miraculous is located.”

“Then that leaves Rena Rouge,” Marinette said.

Chat nodded grimly.Alya was invaluable to the team, but she didn’t exactly replace Chat’s power set.She’d get to work closely with Alya though, maybe they could do some patrols. 

“And I’m sending you with the horse miraculous,” Marinette said.“If things get really bad, you can jump back here, but listen to me Chat.I don’t want you combining them, alright? It’s too dangerous.”

“You had Marinette use multiple miraculous,” Chat said.

“That was different,” Marinette said.“Those miraculous worked well with each other.I’m not mixing the Miraculous of destruction with the Miraculous for tearing a hole in the fabric of space.”

She wouldn’t tell him that she was worried he was already under too much mental stress to handle merging two Miraculous.

“Fair point,” Adrien said.

“And I don’t want you jumping back just because you get an Akuma alert.Wormholes are another thing we shouldn’t be tearing open too often.”

“I promise you I won’t tear too big a hole in the fabric of space time,” Chat said.“But I’ll be ready to go, so just send word and I’ll be here.”

It was already late but… She hadn’t heard Chat make a single pun all night.

“I’ll race you to the Eiffel Tower,” Marinette said.

Chat grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry, things have been weird. I'm moving across the country and the past bit's been crazy. Hope you're all doing well and staying safe.


End file.
